Ryan Paterson shares his experiences establishing the DARPA Forward Cell in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Paterson recently departed DARPA serving as the Deputy Director for the Adaptive Execution Office (AEO). Over the past 12 months, Paterson has also served as the Director, DARPA Forward Cell (DFC), establishing the Agency's first full-time presence in a combat environment since the Vietnam War. As the Director of DFC, Paterson has been responsible for the Joint DARPA Operational Trials, a portfolio of DARPA programs currently operating with the forces in Afghanistan. Paterson will share his experiences from spending six of the last seven months embedded with coalition forces, collaborating with the Afghan people and exploring the country.

Paterson served as a U.S. Marine Corps office for 13 years and as the DARPA Program Manager for the Command Post of the Future (CPOF) program. He holds a master of science in applied mathematics from the Naval Postgraduate School and a bachelor of science in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.