Dr. Brinker earned his PhD in Near Eastern Studies with a concentration in Archaeology from Johns Hopkins University in 2015. While there, he taught core curriculum courses and developed his own original seminars for undergraduate instruction. He began working as a wargaming consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in 2019 and has supported the work of various DoD clients including the Defense Security Cooperation Administration (DSCA), The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and the U.S. Navy. He started work at NDWC in February 2022. In January of 2025 he became a civilian employee of NDWC in his new role as Innovation Chief. In both his old and new role, Dr. Brinker has contributed to the development and execution of many different games and exercises, including red teaming exercises, large-format seminars for international fellows, and many different scenarios for the Operational Wargaming System (OWS). He has also co-taught NDWC’s Strategic Wargaming elective. Dr. Brinker is a lifelong hex and counter hobby wargamer and has contributed to development of a handful of commercially available hobby wargames. He is particularly interested in incorporating contemporary, novel hobby wargame mechanics that encourage new kinds of player interaction and deepen player engagement into NDWC-facilitated events.