Colonel Benjamin Richardson is a native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2001 and subsequently joined the Marine Corps.
After completing complete training as Ground Intelligence Officer, Col Richardson started his active-duty service with 3rd Intelligence Battalion in Okinawa, Japan. During this time, Col Richardson served as a Ground Sensor Platoon Commander and HQ Company Commander, participated in two UFL exercises, HCAX, Cobra Gold, and was attached to the Army’s 102nd Military Intelligence Battalion at Camp Essayons, Korea. After his time at 3rd Intelligence Battalion, Col Richardson was assigned to 1st Marine Division in Camp Pendleton, CA as a dissemination and collections officer. During this assignment, Col Richardson was deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom II, where he helped establish the first Tactical Fusion Center with 1st Intelligence Battalion and supported numerous tactical operations across western Iraq as an LNO to the assigned USASOC elements. Following this deployment, Col Richardson was assigned to 1st Marine Corps District as the JROTC Director, working with recruiters at high schools throughout the Northeast.
As a member of the Marine Corps Reserves, Col Richardson has served in various intelligence roles supporting the Marine Corps, Joint Force, and interagency. Col Richardson was assigned to Training and Education Command as an instructor as the Ground Intelligence Course, supported intelligence instruction as The Basic School, and deployed to the Republic of Georgia to support pre-deployment training. After TECOM, Col Richardson was selected to attend National Intelligence University where he earned a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence. Subsequently, he was assigned to the Joint Warfare Analysis Center where he supported numerous classified programs across the joint force and interagency. After JWAC, Col Richardson took command of a CI/HUMINT Company as part of 3rd Intelligence Battalion, supporting and augmenting numerous deployments around the world. After command, Col Richardson returned to National Intelligence University as an Assistant Professor before being assigned to Defense Innovation Unit as the senior Marine on the Joint Reserve Detachment and, subsequently, activated to establish DIU’s Energy Portfolio.
In his civilian capacity, Col Richardson earned a Master of Business Administration from Hofstra University and worked in finance as a consultant to Blackstone and Apollo Group before becoming the Department of Defense lead on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. During his time in the Pentagon, he led interagency discussions on technology and industrial base policy and testified to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding the growing threat from Chinese competition. Col Richardson is an advisor to Venture Capital firms and technology start-ups, co-founded an AI/autonomy startup, and is a Board Member for various companies focused on manufacturing, simulation, and AI.
Col Richardson is a distinguished graduate National Defense University’s Eisenhower School and was a Senior Executive Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.