About
Founder of the Tribal Analysis Center, David L. Phillips has a B.S. degree in Biology from West Virginia Institute of Technology, M.A. in International Relations, University of Southern California, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. He has conducted documentary research on the Afghan Pashtun tribes in United Kingdom archives, to include the British Library, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, and the archive of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). The results of this research can be seen in various publications posted on the Tribal Analysis Center website to include: Afghanistan: a History of Utilization of Tribal Auxiliaries, Pashtun Cultural Factors Limiting Warlord Development, The Panjpai Relationship with the Other Durranis, and The Hindustani Fanatics: Indian Pashtuns and Deobandism.
His vantage point on tribal peoples is not just from library research. Serving in the US Special Forces during the Vietnam War, Phillips trained Sedang Montagnards and fought with them in their tribal territory along the Laotian border. Awards were the Vietnamese Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart, and Bronze Star with “V” device.
Subsequently, Phillips worked in a variety of federal agencies until retirement in 1996. Remaining an adviser to Special Forces and the Intelligence Community, he specialized in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and South Asia tribal research that included numerous extended trips into the region, including duty on the Jawbreaker pilot team entering Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley on September 26, 2001.
He resides in Leesburg, Virginia where he is researching Vietnam war history to complete a manuscript titled Brass Bracelets: President Kennedy, the CIA, and Vietnam’s Montagnards and another study, From Plei Mei to the Panjshir: History From the Shadows.
Phillips is a member of American Legion Post No. One:
