Michael Vaden

Background

About Michael Vaden

Michael K. Vaden has over 40 years of experience as an executive protection specialist, intelligence collector, counter-terrorism operator, threat investigator, and private detective. He founded Vaden International to provide world-class sensitive investigations and protective services to high net-worth individuals and American corporations around the globe. Mr. Vaden was also the founder & CEO of Gryphon Group Security Solutions LLC which is considered one of the top military training companies in the world and provided specialized pre-mission training to over American Warfighters, Special Operations Personnel, & Federal Agents from 2002 to 2020. He has been a leading innovator in the military training industry for over 20 years. He has designed, developed, and implemented new types of combat training & and cutting-edge tradecraft training methods and programs that have saved lives in combat operations and intelligence missions around the world. Mr. Vaden served in United States Marine Corps’ special operations teams & intelligence units. He also served with the United States Army Special Forces, and joint special mission units. Mr. Vaden has worldwide operational experience in the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, the Balkans, Africa, Central & South America, and East Asia. He has taught advanced combat training and unconventional warfare methods in both Armed Services. Mr. Vaden taught at the U.S. Marines Corps Scout/Sniper School at Camp Lejeune and at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (JFKSWC) at Fort Bragg. He was a Senior Resistance Instructor at the U.S. Army’s Level C Survival, Evasion, Resistance, & Escape (SERE) School at Camp Mackall North Carolina. Mr. Vaden has written on foreign policy and national security issues for Congress and senior-level policymakers. He has a Bachelor Degree in History from Methodist College and a Masters Degree in U.S. Foreign Policy from the American University's School of International Service. For over five years, Mr. Vaden was a Program Associate with the Smithsonian Institution's prestigious national security think-tank, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC. There, he worked on non-traditional national security threats, nuclear weapon proliferation issues, and national intelligence policy. Mr. Vaden is currently in the Ph.D in History program at Liberty University.