HERMAN F. FINLEY, JR.

Herman Finley (Butch) is an Associate Professor at the College of Security Studies. He is the Program Manager for the Center’s Gaming, Simulation and Educational Technology Program. His primary areas of concentration at the APCSS are crisis management, the impact of the Information Age on comprehensive security and the developing doctrines of Information Operations and Strategic Communication. He is heavily involved in the development and implementation of interactive workshops and gaming activities in the College’s various curricula. Mr. Finley has worked and traveled extensively in East Asia during the past 30 years. He has guest lectured at the Inter-American Defense College, the Philippines National Defense College and the Royal Thai Army Command and Staff College.

Mr. Finley joined the APCSS in late 1996 and has been active in all portions of the educational program at the Center. He has been Course Coordinator for the Senior Executive Course and lectured to most of the other courses offered by the Center. He has presented elective courses on Information and Security, Strategic Communication, and Strategy Development.

Mr. Finley retired in 1995 from the U.S. Army after serving twenty-five years. The final ten years of his military career were spent as a China Foreign Area Officer. He served as Chief, Northeast Asia Policy Branch and China Desk Officer, United States Pacific Command, Strategic Planning and Policy Directorate. In this capacity, he was responsible for day-to-day and long-term assessments and recommendations on all aspects of U.S. military/security policy and strategy towards China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, and Mongolia. From 1989 to 1992, Mr. Finley served as Senior Military Fellow at the National Defense University, where he developed and conducted politico-military seminar games in support of exploration of regional politico-military dynamics and strategic decision-making by newly selected Generals and Admirals. He also developed and conducted strategic simulations and focused on national security issues in Latin America. Mr. Finley was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency, serving as China Conventional Forces Branch Chief and China Military Analyst. From 1974 to 1983, he served first as an infantry officer, then as a Tactical Intelligence Officer in a variety of operational and staff positions duty with the 82^nd Airborne Division and the 25^th Infantry Division. Mr. Finley's military career began in 1966 as an enlisted intelligence specialist in Vietnam.

Mr. Finley was born in Maryland, raised in Alabama, and educated in California. He holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. Mr. Finley graduated from the U.S. Army Command and Staff College, the U.S. Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, and the British Army Language School in Hong Kong where he focused on Chinese language skills (Mandarin and Advanced Mandarin).

Printer-friendly version

Last updated: 07/31/2008