A military pilot and diplomat, Bill Sigler recently retired after a 30-year career in the U.S. Navy.
He served most recently as the U.S. Naval Attaché to Canada. During this tenure he liaised extensively across the spectrum of Canadian government, working to strengthen the bi-national relationship generally and that of the U.S. and Royal Canadian Navies specifically. He served as the U.S. Embassy representative on the Permanent Joint Board on Defense and hosted a Russian / Balkan focused Track 1.5 Dialogue, in advance of Canada’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) deployment to Latvia. He also served as interlocutor between the U.S. and Canadian procurement systems, facilitating extensive dialogue in support of both of the Canadian Surface Combatant and Future Fighter Capability programs.
Previous positions include a Pentagon tour as International Engagement Branch Head for the Chief of Naval Operations, managing global engagement for the U.S. Navy’s top admiral. Coinciding with the Obama administration’s ‘Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific’, this posting entailed orchestrating a wide range of key leader engagements with allies and partners in the region. This included several meetings with the head of the People’s Liberation Army (Navy) (PLA(N)) amidst ongoing Chinese land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea.
Prior to his Pentagon posting, Bill also served at NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre in Norway. Leading an international, cross-functional team, he instructed NATO Headquarters staffs across Europe in the art of strategic planning and Joint Military Operations.
Operationally, Bill deployed six times to the Middle East over the course of nearly two decades, flying from a variety of aircraft carriers. Commencing with Desert Storm, he’s flown in every major U.S. operation in the region since.
He holds an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering.
