Robert Schaefer

Robert W. Schaefer is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer (Green Beret), senior diplomat, leadership specialist, and mentor with over 40 years’ experience advising heads of state, senior foreign defense officials, and business leaders. He served as the on-air Security Analyst for NBC’s official coverage of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia where his team is credited with identifying and preventing a terrorist attack during the games. He is a critically acclaimed, award-winning author and keynote speaker.

Schaefer is a founding partner and formerly ran all business operations for American Freedom Distillery, maker of Horse Soldier Bourbon, America’s fastest growing and most-awarded bourbon of the past five years.

He is also Managing Director of The Green Beret Way®, a consultancy that equips organizations to achieve dramatically higher performance using proven Special Operations principles. Based on his book "The Green Beret Way: Leading Elite Teams in Extreme Conditions," the firm adapts Special Operations processes, tools, and procedures for enterprise and interagency teams, optimizing individual and organizational effectiveness to Achieve the Impossible. Routinely.®

Prior to entering the public sector, LTC (R) Schaefer served and participated in virtually every U.S. overseas operation since 1990. He began his career as a Special Forces Engineering and Demolitions Sergeant before earning his commission in 1993. He is one of a handful of “double-sewn” Green Berets – having successfully completed the entire Special Forces twice – once as a sergeant and 10 years later as an officer.

Over his 30-year career as a Green Beret, Schaefer participated in numerous classified or politically-sensitive missions, multiple combat deployments and was awarded the Singlaub Award as the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) “Person of the Year” for his historic achievements with Russian Airborne Forces. He is the first U.S. officer in history to lead Russian forces in combat operations.

In addition to multiple rotations to Afghanistan and Iraq, Schaefer or his team was handpicked to be “first in” for numerous operations including the first and second Gulf Wars, Haiti, Kosovo, Republic of Georgia, and selected classified missions. As a primary planner of the first mission against al-Qaeda affiliates following 9-11, his Program of Instruction (POI) for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency was adopted as the standard for all future deployments by all U.S. Army Special Forces. He later served as the Chief of Central and South Asia Branch of International Military Affairs, overseeing the development and implementation of security assistance and engagement programs for two continents.

He served in multiple diplomatic postings in Russia, Ukraine and finally as the Military Attaché to Estonia where he helped create Estonian Special Forces and their Cyber Security Command. He was awarded the Estonian Defense Forces Distinguished Service Cross, the Ministry of Defense’s Cross of Merit, and the White Cross of the Estonian Kaitseliit – the only foreigner in contemporary Estonian history to have been decorated by all three organizations.

Schaefer earned his master’s degree from Harvard University and is an inaugural member of the University of Louisville’s ROTC Hall of Fame.

His first book, "The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus, From Gazavat to Jihad," won critical acclaim from the New York Times and The Economist and was named a “Best of 2011” by Kirkus Reviews. He was host of National Public Radio’s Memorial Day Special 2007-2013 (still broadcast annually). His new book, "The Green Beret Way: Leading Elite Teams in Extreme Conditions" was released in April 2026 along with the accompanying workbook.