William Hanley

William Hanley

Research Associate, Intelligent Systems Division

Will Hanley is an information warfare expert and practitioner with 10+ years of experience in national security operations. Whether it’s developing a new training program with the Ugandan military or repurposing information warfare capabilities in novel ways to defend our nation, Will has consistently brought together diverse teams of people and technologies to achieve meaningful, real-world impacts at the most critical moments.

Will began his Marine Corps career in 2012 as a technical communications officer. He led communications teams across Africa and Eastern Europe utilizing tactical satellite and terrestrial communications. During this time, he oversaw technology transformations in software-defined radios, telecommunications, and mobile operations centers. In 2018, he received an M.S. in Information Warfare Systems Engineering with Distinction from the Naval Postgraduate School for his DOD-sponsored thesis, “Challenging U.S. Space Preeminence in the Second Space Age: Information Operations on the Commercial Space Front and Space Power Relationships.” In this, he proposes his “6 C’s Power Model” to more effectively assess competing nation-state behaviors along a relational power continuum in order to preempt and mitigate escalations that could lead to conflict. In recent years, he has led several complex, first-of-kind information operations in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Most recently, he served as a senior leader for information warfare strategy and non-kinetic effects at the I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters, a 50k+ person organization in San Diego, CA focused on Pacific-theater national security threats. Will continues to serve in the United States Marine Corps Reserves at the Pentagon and began as the National Security Institute's first Information Warfare Research Faculty in May 2022.

 Will’s research interests include cognitive and ethical considerations for emerging technology, psychological warfare, human-machine teaming, decision-making science, information warfare systems integration, great power competition, lawfare, multi-disciplinary team building, and veteran trauma care.

 In addition to a M.S., Information Warfare Systems Engineering, Will received a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy. In his spare time, Will enjoys leisurely jogs and boasts about how his three girls are smarter than him.