The Potomac Institute is proud to welcome Brian Hibbeln as a Senior Fellow. Mr. Hibbeln is a Venture Partner at SineWave Ventures, a firm dedicated to accelerating new technologies, and he has spent 23 years as an Air Force Reserve Officer with assignments at both the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). His final assignment was to the Mission Support Directorate of the NRO.

"I was excited to join the Potomac Institute because they have always been widely understood to be the premier think tank in Washington supporting tech and policy issues," said Hibbeln. "The impact they have made has been nothing short of incredible."

"Brian brings a wealth of civilian and military knowledge to the Potomac Institute. His passion for emerging technology has been clear throughout his entire career. We're so excited to work with him and mobilize this passion to advance the mission of the Institute," said Potomac Institute CEO Dr. Jennifer Buss.

Upon release from active duty, Mr. Hibbeln was awarded the Joint Meritorious Service Medal, a certificate of achievement from the Director of the CIA, and the NRO Silver Medal. In 2001, he was recalled to active duty to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom. During this tour, he led a number of new initiatives utilizing National, Civil, and Commercial space systems to combat terrorism and provide operational support to forces and the Intelligence Community. During this time, he also supported the White House Military Office as White House Social Aide to the President.

After serving in the Air Force, he spent over 20 years as a senior civilian in the US Government. He served as the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Special Capabilities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). He also served as the very first director of the Special Capabilities Office (SCO), where he managed over $2B in resources. He was responsible for the oversight of Joint Capability Technology Demonstrations (JCTD) related to intelligence, space, airborne, and other remote sensing operations. He also oversaw the development of special technologies in support of the Combatant Commands, the Joint Staff, the Intelligence Community, and forward deployed operational users.

Mr. Hibbeln recently served as the director of the Naval Postgraduate School's Remote Sensing Center-National Capital Region, where he managed over $8B in US Government contracts. The Remote Sensing Center supported the DoD and US Intelligence Community with technology demonstrations and operational support to combatant commanders around the world. He previously served as the Chief Scientist and Chief Systems Engineer of Measurement and Signature Intelligence at the Intelligence (MASINT) Staff at the NRO. He was responsible for the development of new overhead sources and methods to address hard intelligence problems and led the development of advanced space-based MASINT architectures. In this position, he provided recommendations to the Director of Central Intelligence, Congressional Staffs, senior policy and decision makers, and numerous operational and intelligence customers. Many of these programs transitioned to operational programs of record that continue to provide significant support to ongoing operations.