
DMNSF – April 29
You are invited to a luncheon presentation of the Des Moines National Security Forum.
In this presentation of the forum, Charlie Gilbert, director of global intelligence for Gavin de Becker & Associates and former deputy director of the National Clandestine Service for the CIA, and Todd Schmidt, director of the Simons Center, will engage in a “fireside chat,” discussing the global intelligence gathering environment and the challenges and opportunities faced by the U.S. intelligence community in a world rapidly evolving and impacted by technological advancements and artificial intelligence.
Charlie Gilbert is an executive board member director of global intelligence for Gavin de Becker & Associates (GDBA) in San Antonio, Texas. GDBA offers protective services and protection training and advisory services for clients around the world. He was recruited to GDBA from the CIA, where he had served as deputy director for the National Clandestine Service, a part of the CIA that was established in 2004 to enhance human intelligence options. NCS was restructured and absorbed back into the CIA in 2015.
Gilbert’s CIA service also included assignments as executive officer and senior operations officer the the directorate of operations, and as chief of global intelligence operations agains a hostile target country. He has conduced numerous assignments in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and East Asia. Assigned to the top position in three different regions, Gilbert was responsible to conceive, plan, and execute complex intelligence operations. He has been operationally proficient in Farsi, Italian, and Russian.
Gilbert is the recipient of numerous awards and recognition including the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Donovan Award (twice), the Director’s Award, and three Meritorious Unit citations.
