R. Joseph DeSutter Collection of U.S. National Security Documents

The collection has been donated by R. Joseph DeSutter, Colonel, U.S. Air Force (Ret). After graduating from St. Louis University, Colonel DeSutter served in the United States Air Force from 1969 to 1994. His first five years involved entry level assignments: he learned to fly planes, established himself as a talented administrator, served overseas, and earned a Master of Arts degree in Political Science.

In 1974 he was assigned to the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) in Los Angeles. As a junior Captain, he replaced a Lieutenant Colonel as SAMSO’s Command Executive Officer under a three-star Commander and a two-star Vice Commander. Over the next three years Colonel DeSutter served as chief administrator, command briefer, and virtual chief-of-staff for a global organization with a $3 billion (mid-seventies) annual budget. It was the beginning of his lifelong education in space and space technologies – including communications, meteorology, navigation, reconnaissance satellites, launch vehicles, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, all of which were then under development by SAMSO program offices

He was assigned to the United States Air Force Academy’s Political Science faculty in 1977. He taught all four of the Departments’ core courses and all three of its specialized introductory courses for Political Science majors. He directed the 21st Annual Academy Assembly, a nationwide conference hosting over 100 students for a three-day program.

DeSutter was selected for the Department’s sponsorship for three years’ doctoral studies starting in 1979. He studied International Relations at the University of Southern California, completing a Master of Arts Degree in 1981 and a PhD in 1983. He passed doctoral exams in strategic studies, political theory, statistical methods, and American politics. His dissertation addressed the theoretical, technological, political, and diplomatic aspects of arms control verification.

DeSutter returned to Air Force Academy 1982-1985 as Head of the Political Science Department’s American Studies Track Responsible for one-third of the political science curriculum and one-third of its faculty. He introduced the Academy’s first course in American National Space Policy, which has been required in every academic discipline ever since. He published scholarly papers and represented the Academy on panels, public addresses, debates, and media relations. Over his five years on the faculty, he taught each of the Political Science’s 36 courses at least once.

DeSutter was assigned to the Arms Control Division, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, in 1985. The Division served under the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations (OPSDEP). Col DeSutter briefed the OPSDEP and Chief of Staff on every arms control issue on the JCS agenda. In 1986, President Reagan’s Science Advisor, Dr. William R. Graham, asked the Air Force to assign Col. DeSutter to the White House, where he served as:

Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Executive Director of the White House Science Council.

The Science Advisor’s principal liaison to/with the National Security Council.

When the Reagan Administration left office in 1989, Vice President Quayle’s National Security Advisor, Dr. Carnes Lord, asked the Air Force to assign Colonel DeSutter to the Office of the Vice President. Served as the Vice President’s Deputy National Security Advisor for the next four years. He had the following responsibilities:

Briefed the Vice President daily on urgent or impending national security topics.

Represented the Vice President abroad for conferences, panels, debates, and appearances.

Attended ongoing arms control negotiations in Geneva.

Drafted national security language for the Vice President’s speeches.

Advised the national leadership on political, strategic, and tactical aspects of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

Visited the region alone and with senior administration officials.

Participated as the policy expert on advance trips in preparation for Vice Presidential travel; accompanied the Vice President on trips to Asia, Europe, and Latin America

Established himself as a White House expert on the Strategic Defense Initiative and its relation to the ABM Treaty; ongoing arms control negotiations; verification and compliance; national space policy; technology control regimes, etc.

Supported and advised the Vice President on the politics, economics, and strategic risk associated with America’s victory in the Cold War.

In 1993, Vice President Gore’s National Security Advisor, Mr. Leon Fuerth, asked the Air Force not to reassign Col. DeSutter from his current slot in the Office of the Vice President. DeSutter advised Mr. Fuerth on topics under deliberation throughout the National Security Council network and before the National Security Council itself. DeSutter served as the Vice President’s Middle East Advisor throughout the Oslo Process and the historic handshake between Arafat and Rabin on the South Lawn.

Colonel DeSutter retired from the Air Force in 1994 in a ceremony presided over by Vice President Gore in the White House Indian Treaty Room. Over 7½ years in multiple White House national security positions DeSutter observed and participated in every aspect of the policy processes. He was “junior” enough to engage with working level interagency groups when necessary but positioned high enough to track the same issues all the way to the National Security Council. Having studied the American political system and taught college-level courses on the Presidency, Colonel DeSutter had the rare privilege of witnessing two presidential transitions from the inside – one from a Republican to a Republican: and one from a Republican to a Democrat.

Colonel DeSutter’s distinguished career continued in a civilian capacity. He headed a Middle East project on joint Palestinian-American and Palestinian-Israeli commercial relations. He also founded National Defense University’s newest college – the College of International Security Affairs – which he directed through accreditation (for NDU’s first MA degree) and full-up operations over the ensuing decade.

- R. Joseph DeSutter wrote this biographical note in 2022.