Norman Cooling is the Founder and President of N.L. Cooling Strategic Consulting. Born and raised in Texas, he currently lives in North Carolina with his wife of 34 years, Beth. Mr. Cooling is a Burke and Cox Scholar from the U.S. Naval Academy and holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies. In 2024, he completed his doctoral studies in educational leadership at High Point University and was awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award for his achievements.
Mr. Cooling is a man of faith who attends Wesley Memorial Methodist Church where he serves as an usher. He also serves as a board director for Veterans Bridge Home, a non-profit that provides tailored support to veterans, addressing their unique needs in employment, housing, health, and community integration. He is a frequent public speaker on the importance of national security education and the military services.
How did you journey from the U.S. Naval Academy to founding N.L. Cooling Strategic Consulting?
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1986, I embarked on a career as a Marine ground combat arms officer that lasted more than 33 years. That career included 11 deployments, including five combat deployments. I was blessed to command several infantry and light armored reconnaissance units including 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines during deployments in support of both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I also served in several training and education assignments including commanding the Light Armored Vehicle School, serving as the operations officer for the School of Infantry (West), commanding the Mountain Warfare Training Center, and serving on the faculty of the Naval War College. Finally, I served in three different legislative affairs assignments.
Following my military retirement, these experiences led former colleagues and members of my local community to ask me to mentor others in government, business, and academia on leadership development, strategic planning, organizational assessment, and crisis management. As a result, I decided to establish a small consulting firm focused on those subjects.
What motivated you to pursue a Doctorate in Educational Leadership after your military service?
I have always enjoyed education, and I consider lifelong learning important for preserving mental health. Furthermore, I recognized that higher education in America is in a crisis. Despite its obvious importance, many Americans are questioning the return on investment in higher education. Some are also concerned with it compromising traditional values.
I thought I might be able to bring a different perspective to the university classroom than the one brought by career-long academics. At the same time, I wanted to gain an understanding of what makes educational leadership in colleges and universities different from leadership in other professional endeavors like the military and business.
What are some of the significant challenges you faced during your deployments, and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges I faced occurred during my second deployment to Iraq. This was when I commanded Task Force Trinity, which was built around 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. We were tasked with fielding an indigenous police force in the volatile Haditha Triad region of Al Anbar Province. Unfortunately, when U.S. forces had been pulled out of the region earlier to fight in Ramadi and Fallujah, the Islamic State had backfilled the area and publicly executed most of the police who had cooperated with American forces in the local soccer stadium.
The remainder of the force fled the region. As a result, when U.S. forces returned to the Triad, none of the locals wanted to cooperate with us. They feared the insurgents who continued their intimidation tactics and knew that American forces would eventually withdraw again. Even though the population would not join a local police force and many cooperated with the insurgents, we had to regain their trust, and to do that we had to accept a considerable amount of personal risk while carrying out our security tasks. That's a lot to ask of Marines and it requires great individual discipline. We had to contrast our treatment of the local residents with that of the insurgents.
Concurrently, I pulled one of my most talented young officers, Lieutenant Vic Lance, out of his primary responsibilities and tasked him with tracking down the remnants of the former Haditha Police Force. Working with intelligence and special operations forces, Vic was able to locate them in the northernmost portion of Iraq and convince them to return to Haditha after formal police training in Baghdad. Although this force was initially small, they were Haditha natives. They knew who the insurgents were and who was cooperating with them.
The Islamic State responded by pouring resources into the Triad in an attempt to destroy this force, but we sustained them with our presence along with reinforcements from a neighboring Iraqi police force and our partnered Afghan National Army battalion. Eventually, this turned local support in the Haditha Triad away from the Islamic State insurgents and toward their police force. None of this would have been possible without disciplined Marines, superb young non-commissioned officers, and officers like Vic Lance who could take their commander's intent and produce small miracles.
What are some key accomplishments during your time as a Brigadier General that you are most proud of?
I think my most substantive contribution as a General Officer was while I served as the Deputy and Acting Director of Plans and Operations for U.S. European Command (EUCOM). I led the transition of the command back to a warfighting capable headquarters. Following the Cold War, EUCOM lost a considerable staff and assigned forces and the command's focus turned to supporting U.S. Central Command's actions in the Middle East and Afghanistan while mentoring the militaries of nations aspiring to NATO membership.
Russia's invasion of Crimea, which happened shortly before I arrived in EUCOM, changed that. As a result, I formed and led the operational planning team that produced the first Theater Campaign Order for the Command since the end of the Cold War. Making the most efficient use of limited resources, this Order directed subordinate commands from all Services to conduct specific, measurable actions designed to deter Russian aspirations in the Baltics and Romania and to reassure allies while building NATO interoperability and capacity. The Order also provided the Command the ability to assess progress and address shortfalls on a quarterly basis.
Another significant accomplishment of which I'm proud occurred while I was the Deputy Commander for Marine Forces Europe and Africa. I recognized the lack of U.S. amphibious shipping available to meet U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command operational requirements in the region. In conversations with senior allied naval officers, I also recognized an opportunity afforded by their amphibious resources and created the Allied Maritime Basing Initiative (AMBI). This effort sought to identify allies with amphibious ships and work with those allies and the Naval Safety Center to test and certify those ships for the operation of U.S. aircraft and equipment.
AMBI continues to the present and increasingly provides two U.S. geographic combatant commands with viable alternatives for operationally mobile, maritime basing. In the event of a major regional crisis, there will not be enough U.S. amphibious shipping available in the foreseeable future, so this helps to address a critical strategic shortfall.
What role does your faith play in your approach to leadership and service?
Christianity is central to my leadership philosophy. It has become increasingly clear to me that when I think and act consistent with my faith, I am successful. On the other hand, when I act in ways that are inconsistent with my faith, I fail to lead effectively. I'm not just talking about violating one of the Ten Commandments. I am talking about things as simple as avoiding foolish talk, which features prominently in Proverbs, or failing to put others first, as Christ did consistently.
By nature, I am a task-oriented person and I have to remind myself that all tasks truly worth accomplishing require people to buy-in and contribute. Consistently reading scripture helps keep that in the forefront of my mind. Effective leaders have to constantly balance the feelings and perceptions of others with task accomplishment. All the things a leader needs to be effective - vision, courage, patience, perseverance, moral strength, etc. - can be found in scripture and in Christ's personal example.
