Captain Dave DiOrio is a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and a 1983 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He served for 26 years as a Nuclear Submarine Officer aboard ballistic missile and fast attack submarines and conducted intelligence, warning, and strike missions around the globe. He conducted several strategic deterrent patrols during the Cold War and participated in Operations Desert Strike, Joint Guardian, Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Inherent Resolve. His military service culminated as the Submarine Force Director for Readiness and Special Forces Undersea Mobility and Deputy Director for Strategic Forces. He led a team of professionals that developed the concept of operations for the Guided Missile Submarine Fleet where four Trident Class nuclear submarines were transformed into a conventional Joint Special Forces and Tomahawk Missile Strike platform.
Captain DiOrio then transitioned to National Defense University where he taught hundreds of senior military officers and interagency civilians in joint professional military education. He served as the Deputy Director of the university’s southern campus at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA., teaching national security strategy and joint interagency planning for both foreign and domestic contingencies. He earned a master’s degree in national security studies and doctoral degree in public policy to facilitate an ongoing strategic dialogue between our international military allies, United States military war planners, and civilian government officials. He has widely published and taught on the topic of integrating and balancing improved governance with military action to address the Islamic militant threat emanating from the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr. DiOrio currently conducts Islamist terrorism research and teaches as an Adjunct Professor for the Joint Special Operations University in Tampa, FL. In his continued 42 plus years of public service, he serves as a Mayor Pro-Tem of Lake Lure, North Carolina. Mayor Pro-Tem DiOrio has been instrumental in orchestrating a coordinated interagency response to the devastation imposed by Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina.
