John Guandolo
John Guandolo is the Founder of UnderstandingtheThreat.com, an organization dedicated to providing strategic and operational threat-focused consultation, education, and training for federal, state and local leadership and agencies, and designing strategies at all levels of the community in order to defeat the jihadi threat.
Mr. Guandolo is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who took a commission as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He served with 2d Battalion 2d Marines as an Infantry Platoon Commander in combat Operations Desert Shield/Storm. From 1991-1996, he served in 2d Force Reconnaissance Company as a Platoon Commander, Assistant Operations Officer, and the unit’s Airborne and Diving Officer. During this time, he also deployed to the Adriatic/Bosnia. He served for one year as the Unit Leader for the CINC’s In-Extremis Force, directly reporting to a Combatant Commander in a classified mission profile. Mr. Guandolo was a combat diver, military free-fall parachutist, and a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School.
In 1996, Mr. Guandolo resigned his commission in the Marine Corps and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), serving at the Washington Field Office. From 1996-2000, he primarily conducted narcotics investigations domestically and overseas. In 2001, he served for one year as the FBI Liaison to the U.S. Capitol Police investigating threats on high-level government officials. Shortly after 9/11, Mr. Guandolo began an assignment to the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI’s Washington Field Office developing an expertise in the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Doctrine, the global Islamic Movement, and terrorist organizations including Hamas, Al Qaeda, and others.
In 2006, Mr. Guandolo was designated a “Subject Matter Expert” by FBI Headquarters and created and implemented the FBI’s first Counterterrorism Training Program focused on the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Doctrine, and the global Islamic Movement, and. This course was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the FBI’s Executive Assistant Director in a brief to the Vice President’s National Security Staff. For his efforts, in 2007 Mr. Guandolo was presented the “Defender of the Homeland” Award by U.S. Senators Jon Kyl and Joseph Lieberman on behalf of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
While in the FBI, Mr. Guandolo also received two (2) United States Attorney’s Awards for Investigative Excellence. Mr. Guandolo served on the Washington Field Office SWAT team for over nine years and as its Team Leader for three of those years. He was a certified Undercover Agent, a Nationally Registered Paramedic, a First Aid Instructor, and served as an FBI “Advanced Capability Medic.” His career included significant overseas travel to include many areas of Africa, Southwest Asia, Europe and elsewhere.
After his FBI career, Mr. Guandolo conducted Strategic Analysis on the Global Islamic Movement for the Department of Defense. Currently, Mr. Guandolo advises governments - U.S. and others - on matters related to National Security, specifically the threat from the Global Islamic Movement. He actively briefs and teaches members of Congress, senior military officials, law enforcement, the intelligence community, key community leaders, and others. Mr. Guandolo served as an adjunct instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College and instructed at the U.S. Army War College. Mr. Guandolo is currently a Special Deputy Sheriff in Culpeper County, Virginia.
In 2014, Mr. Guandolo was inducted into the International Who’s Who for his work in the field of national security. Mr. Guandolo is the co-author of Shariah – The Threat to America, the first comprehensive book on the enemy threat doctrine, and the author of Raising a Jihadi Generation (September 2013) which details the Muslim Brotherhood’s jihadi support network inside the United States. Mr. Guandolo is a Claremont Institute Lincoln Fellow. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign War, the American Legion, and the Force Reconnaissance Association. Mr. Guandolo frequently appears on television and radio, and regularly publishes articles related to these matters in a number of media outlets. His website is www.UnderstandingtheThreat.com
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