Senior Military Fellow and Design Team Leader for the Strategic Policy Integration Division
Commander David J. Di Tallo, USN is a Senior Military Fellow and Design Team Leader for the Strategic Policy Integration Division (SPID) at National Defense University’s Center for Advanced Strategic Learning (CASL), where he designs and conducts political military games, simulations, and exercises in support of the NDU research mission and the federal inter-agency community.
Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Commander Di Tallo graduated from The Ohio State University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Accounting) and was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. He began undergraduate flight training in October 1991 and was designated a Naval Aviator and Naval Helicopter Pilot in June 1993. Since then he held a wide variety of operational flying assignments in the SH-60B SEAHAWK helicopter, as well as aircraft carrier-based and shore-based staffs.
Prior to reporting to NDU, Commander Di Tallo served as Assistant Director, Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel from 2006-2010, where he conducted national security research studies and policy analysis for a thirty-member Federal Advisory Committee. From 2005-2006, he was a Federal Executive Fellow to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program, performing independent research in U.S. national security policy, strategy, and force planning, earning him a Navy sub-specialty designation in Strategy, Policy, and Intelligence.
Commander Di Tallo graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval War College with a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies in 2003 and previously completed Joint Professional Military Education (Phase I) in 2001. He has over 2200 total flight hours and 860 shipboard landings. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards).
