The CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center hosted an Arter-Rowland National Security Forum luncheon event on Sept. 25, 2025, at the Carriage Club in Kansas City. The event featured a presentation by Peter W. Pandolfi, Ph.D., a former treaty policy analyst, inspector and escort for the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA), who conducted a presentation and discussion on “Implementing U.S. Arms Control Agreements,” a recently published book he co-edited.
ARNSF program leader Bob Ulin kicked off the Forum welcoming the ARNSF members and their guests. After lunch, he introduced Pandolfi, who had spent the previous evening presenting to an audience of the Foundation’s Distinguished Speaker Series in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Pandolfi’s personal experiences with verification of arms control agreements were the basis of the book he edited with Gilbert Bernabe and Herbert Cork. The details of how arms control agreements were verified has been mostly an untold story destined to die as the Cold War becomes more distant. Violations of arms control agreements properly command significant attention at the highest levels, but the successful implementation of these often complex and intrusive verification regimes frequently goes unnoticed.
“Implementing U.S. Arms Control Agreements” is told by some of the world’s leading experts on the subject — men and women who labored on the front lines of the on-site inspections (OSI) and related activities. The book documents the story of one of the key organizations in this historic struggle to constrain and, where possible, eliminate the weapons that continue to plague the human race and the world environment — the United States (U.S.) Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and its legacy organization, the U.S. Department of Defense On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA).
Chapters of the book reveal many firsts for the reader, including documentation of the first American visits to many remote Soviet and Russian military communities and the reaction of those communities seeing Americans for the first time. Similarly, there are accounts of the Soviet inspectors’ visits to U.S. military sites and their reaction to U.S. stores and restaurants rich in goods and delicious food.
After the presentation and a question and answer period, Ulin presented Pandolfi with a Foundation/Simons Center gift in appreciation for his time with the Forum. Ulin also provided information about future ARNSF gatherings.
For more photos see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album
Peter W. Pandolfi, Ph.D., is a retired U.S. Air Force major and a former treaty policy analyst, inspector and escort for the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA). He spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force as an intercontinental ballistic missile operations officer and 14 years as a program analyst in the Department of Homeland Security. He retired in 2016 at the GS-15 level. While in OSIA, he was chief of operations at the San Francisco Field Office and conducted inspections in the Soviet Union/Russia and escort missions in the United States. He supported Intermedia-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and nuclear test treaties.
During his military career Pandolfi was assigned as a missile crew member at Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB), South Dakota, an instructor at Vandenberg AFB, California, branch chief and special projects officer at Headquarters, Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, squadron operations officer of the 510th Strategic Missile Squadron, and subsequently squadron commander, then chief, of the plans and intelligence division at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. From Whiteman he was assigned to OSIA at the field office and then at the headquarters at Dulles International Airport, Virginia.
Pandolfi holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from West Virginia University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Dakota and a doctorate in education from Suffield University. During his military service he earned the Defense Meritorious Service medal and Master Missile Operations badge. In Homeland Security he has written reports on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operations and briefed cabinet level officials in addition to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He also testified twice before Congress on TSA effectiveness.
The Arter-Rowland National Security Forum is an exclusive professional information sharing and networking event exclusively for members of the forum and select invitees of the CGSC Foundation and its Simons Center .
Members of the Forum and their guests meet periodically at guest speaker events in downtown Kansas City. National and regional guest speakers representing all elements of national power (Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic) highlight the meetings. The Forum is nonpartisan, but elected government officials may present from time to time.
The Forum is named after Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Arter, Founding Chairman of the CGSC Foundation, and Mr. Landon Rowland, the Foundation’s first major donor who was well-known in Kansas City for his keen interest in national security issues and his leadership in business and philanthropy.
ARNSF events are only open to ARNSF members and their guests. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, contact Bob Ulin at rulin@cgscf.org.
The 2025 Arter-Rowland National Security Forum is sponsored by:
