BIOGRAPHY:

Kwiatkowski began her military career in 1978 as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. She served at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, providing logistical support to missions along the Chinese and Russian coasts. She served tours in Spain and Italy, Kwiatkowski was then assigned to the Nation Security Agency, eventually becoming a highly respected speechwriter for the agency's director. After leaving the NSA, she became an an analyst on sub-Saharan Africa policy for the Pentagon. From May, 2002 to February 2003, she served in the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia directorate (NESA).While at NESA, she wrote a series of anonymous articles, "Insider Notes from the Pentagon", that appeared on the website of David Hackworth. Kwiatkowski was in her office inside the Pentagon when it was tragically attacked on September 11,  2001. 

Colonel Kwiatkowski left NESA in February, 2003 and after 20 years of service, retired from the Air Force the following month. In April 2003, she began writing a series of articles for the libertarian website LewRockwell.com. In June of that year, she published an article in the Ohio Beacon Journal, "Career Officer Does Eye-Opening Stint Inside Pentagon" which attracted international notice. Kwiatkowski is primarily noted for openly and publicly denouncing what she sees as a corrupting political influence on the course of military intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Her most comprehensive writings on this subject appeared in a series of articles in The American Conservative magazine in December 2003 and in a March 2004 article on Salon.com.

Kwiatkowski has become a respected columnist for various international media outlets. She continues to be a regular contributor to Lewrockwell.com and has had articles about her work with the Department of Defense published in the American Conservative.  She has hosted the popular call-in radio show American Forum,  and blogs for the Huffingtonpost.com and Liberty and Power.  She has taught classes with the University of Maryland and The American Public University System.  She also has served as an adjunct faculty member in Political Science at James Madison University.

PREVIOUS:

· Retired from the active duty USAF as a Lieutenant Colonel.
· Political-military affairs officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary for Policy, in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Near East South Asia (NESA) Policy directorates.
· Worked on the North Africa desk at the Pentagon.
· Served on the Air Force Staff, Operations Directorate at the Pentagon.
· Served on the staff of the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade.
· Served tours in Alaska, Massachusetts, Spain and Italy.

EDUCATION:

· MA in Government from Harvard.
· MS in Science Management from the University of Alaska.
· Completed both Air Command and Staff College and the Naval War College seminar programs.
· Holds a Ph.D. in World Politics from Catholic University of America.

BOOKS:

· African Crisis Response Initiative: Past Present and Future (US Army Peacekeeping Institute, 2000)
· Expeditionary Air Operations in Africa: Challenges and Solutions (Air University Press, 2001)

PERSONAL:

Colonel Kwiatkowski lives on a small farm in western Virginia with her husband and three of her four children.