William A. Parquette

Hometown: State College, PA

PSU Connection: Employee

School: University Park

Department: College of Information Sciences and Technology

Position: Professor of Practice

Memorable moment in your Penn State career: I joined the College of IST in the summer of 2019. I have enjoyed interacting with the students in my SRA 111 course. I get students from across campus and now have the opportunity to see them again in SRA 211 and SRA 421.

Active Duty or Veteran: Veteran

Branch: Army

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Rate/MOS: Field Artillery

Where/when did you serve: June 1979 – June 2001, 3rd Armored Division (Gulf War); TRADOC Analysis Command (TRAC); 2nd Armored Division; HQ III Corps; Army DCSOPS, Pentagon Units (1979-1989) 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Armored Division

Awards: Various awards including the Legion of Merit, Army Commendation Medal, and several overseas awards and service medals for wartime service in the Gulf War and assignments throughout Europe.

What was your favorite military assignment/duty station and why? Serving as a Paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division was an excellent first assignment and provided lifelong friends. It took me all over the world to include participating in the first Operation Brightstar in 1981 and jumping from the plane within sight of the Pyramids near Cairo, Egypt. The opportunity serving with all three armored divisions, 1st, 2nd and 3rd was a unique and worthwhile experience. And my experience with the 3rd Armored Division during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991 was a once in a lifetime. I was in southern Iraq and was involved in the 3AD’s turnover of this area to the UN Peace Keeping Force.

William A. Parquette, Army, LTC (ret), is currently a Professor of Practice at The Pennsylvania State University. Prior to Penn State, William was the Chairman of the Foreign Denial and Deception Committee (FDDC) of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). William was full time faculty at the National Intelligence University (NIU) for thirteen years and was a senior manager at the at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) for the 11 years. He has 22 years’ experience in strategic intelligence, denial and deception operations, planning, analysis, and collection as an operator, educator and senior policy advisor. William has twenty-two years of active service including combat tours and 22 years’ experience as a program manager in the United States Government.