Originally from Upstate New York, Benjamin “Pags” Paganelli graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a B.S. in International Affairs. He spent the next 22 years in operations, training, and strategic planning, during which he earned an M.S. in International Relations and eventually served as an Assistance Professor of Political Science at the Air Force Academy.

Ben’s military career centered around operations (qualified in the F-4E, RF-4C, F-111F/G, F-15E, and T-39) and leadership at the tactical level. In 2004 he completed the NATO Strategic Planning Course, and he spent the next three years as NATO’s Strategic Air Planner for the International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan) and standing up the first NATO Response Force, before finishing his first career in the classroom.

While faculty at USAFA, Ben started the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES) chapter there. ALLIES is a program initiated at the IGL, and Ben worked closely with us, and with Gregg Nakano, the first intellectual ramrod of ALLIES - to support student leaders from six universities and three military academies work and study together, conduct Joint Research Projects (JRP), and forge life-long relationships. When Ben left the Air Force, he was named an INSPIRE Fellow at the IGL, and served as the ALLIES national advisor for the next five years, which included advising and participating in the 2012 JRP to Rwanda.

As a principal and Senior Consultant for Viable International Applications Unlimited, LLC, Ben has worked with educational, government, corporate, and non-profit organizations to improve their cross-organizational and cross-cultural relationships. He adjuncts at Tacoma Community College, and has lectured or taught at a dozen or so institutions to include The Belgian War College, US Air Force Special Operations School, Technion (Israel), Boston University, the University of Colorado, Seattle University and the University of Puget Sound.