COL (Ret) Dwayne Wagner was born at Fort Ord, CA and lived in Indiana, Texas, and Germany while growing up in a military LT family. Mr. Wagner’s civilian education includes undergraduate study at Bishop College and a graduate degree in Criminology and Corrections from Sam Houston State University (1987). His graduate degree thesis was titled: “A Modified Replication of the 1970 Report of the Special Civilian Committee for the Study of the United States Army Confinement System.” In 1993, Mr. Wagner completed the FBI National Academy (VA) a course for future law enforcement leaders. In May 2001, he graduated from the Advanced Operational Art Studies Fellowship from the School of Advanced Military Studies, a two-year Senior Service College program that produces strategic-level leaders. His SAMS’ monograph is titled “Preparing Army Officers for Joint Warfare Leadership.” Mr. Wagner’s academic background also includes teaching five seminars as a CAS3 Seminar Instructor and one year as the Director of the SAMs Fellowship. His military career includes combat support
operations, policing, corrections, personnel administration, and strategic policy development. COL Wagner served as a Company Commander, Battalion S3, HQDA Staff Officer, LTCs/MAJs Assignment Officer and Branch Chief (HRC), Battalion
Commander, and DOD Liaison, OSD (Counterdrug Policy). He commanded the 705th Military Police Battalion, a force provider and emergency response unit that supports the United States Disciplinary Barracks.
Mr. Wagner’s experiences also include slating officers for CGSC, Senior Service College, and Lieutenant Colonel CSL Command. As a Colonel he served on boards to select officers for school, promotion, and command for both active and reserve components. He was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and served at legacy U.S. Customs Service headquarters (2001-2003) before becoming the DOD Liaison to DEA. While at DEA, Mr. Wagner was intimately involved in DEA operations in
Afghanistan and made 7 visits over a four year period to work with the U.S. Embassy, DEA Country Office, military commands, and NGOs to implement and evaluate U.S government Counterdrug support. In July 2008, Mr. Wagner retired from active military service and transitioned to teaching policy, strategy, and joint operations at CGSC. He teaches electives in Homeland Security and National Security Policy and has participated in several college-level staff initiatives.
In 2017, Mr. Wagner was selected as the “CGSC Civilian Educator of the Year.” Mr. Wagner is a guest speaker, lecturer, and panel participant on issues of leadership, mentorship, diversity and inclusion, and the criminal justice system and has participated in events at national, regional, and local levels. His May 2020 podcast interview on “Cross-Racial and Cross-Gender Mentoring” is being shared widely and used as background to initiate conversations on leadership, diversity and inclusion, and mentorship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1GJOIHiWtE
