Trent Scott

Trent Scott is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He has more than three decades of practical experience in national security, including as a member of the national intelligence community’s senior executive service and as a senior officer in the Australian Defence Force.

Trent has led multi-agency intelligence teams on sensitive national challenges, including cyber security, strategic analysis and intelligence effects. He led the planning of the Australian Defence Force’s response to MH17, its contribution to defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and contingency options to support Australia’s Pacific allies and partners during crisis. He has commanded Australian and coalition forces on multiple tours of East Timor, Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He holds a Master of International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, a Master of International Relations from Deakin University, and a Master of Military Studies and Master of Operational Studies from the Marine Corps University.

Trent was the Chief of Army’s strategic scholar to the School of Advanced International Studies, and a military fellow to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has published on adaption in war, operational art, allied interoperability in the Indo-Pacific, joint operations and command and control. A paper authored by Trent on the case for a joint operational level headquarters was used by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to help win the argument to establish their joint operations command centre.