Garrett Exner

Adjunct Fellow

Garrett Exner is an adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute, where he writes and comments on US national defense with a specific focus on the use of special operations forces and gray zone competition.

Mr. Exner is executive director of the Public Interest Fellowship, where he is responsible for the fellow selection process, fellow placements, relationships with partner organizations, and oversight of the development and educations of fellows over their time in the program. Previously, he served as the military legislative assistant to US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a counterterrorism policy advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy), and as a special operations officer in the United States Marine Corps. He spent 14 years in the Marine Corps with deployments and operational experience in Iraq, North Africa, East Africa, and the South Pacific.

He earned his MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and his BA from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. He resides in Virginia with his wife and two children.