Guy Snodgrass, Commander, USN (Retired) is a former US Naval Aviator, Top Gun Instructor, and FA 18 Fighter Pilot. A speechwriter in the Pentagon for the Chief of Naval Operations, and later for GEN Mattis as Secretary of Defense. Guy (call sign “Bus”) is also the author of two books including Top Gun’s Top Ten: Leadership lessons from the cockpit.
A 1998 graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Snodgrass developed a love and interest in aviation at a young age through the Boy Scouts. While at Annapolis, he spent one semester in enemy territory studying at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Upon Graduation, he was one of fifteen to be sent to graduate school, earning the first of three masters degrees from MIT. After flight school and selection for jets, his first tour took him to Oceana and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was selected to attend theUS Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun), and upon completion was selected to a “rush ride” and offered the chance to remain as an instructor.
He went on to be a squadron commander on a second tour in Japan, before serving as speechwriter to the SECDEF. Snodgrass is also the CEO of Defense Analytics, a consulting firm he founded after retirement from the Navy in 2018.
The Spotlight
We asked Guy to step into the Spotlight to share some of the lessons from his book. TopGun’s Top Ten is a great collection of stories that have a moral. In each chapter, Snodgrass draws the reader in with a real life experience that makes his point on topics like staying calm under pressure, and leading in times of crisis.
A speechwriter, his skills with the written word are apparent, and he says a lot without needing to write a lot.
About our guest
Learn more about Guy Snodgrass on LinkedIn
Check out his book Top Gun’s Top Ten: Leadership lessons from the cockpit
About your host
Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper. You can learn more about Bob Louthan on LinkedIn.