National Hispanic Corporate Achievers

is currently an independent political/military commentator and intelligence contractor. Colonel Otero retired after 28 years of service, of which 22 were in active duty.  He spent 14 years working out of MacDill Air Force Base, first at US Central Command and later at U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in Tampa, Florida.

Recently at USSOCOM from 2006 to 2010 he was in charge of International Engagement dedicated to developing agreements with equivalent Special Operations Commands around the world in support of US military efforts worldwide. In this capacity Colonel Otero took the lead in negotiating partnerships with five key US partners:  Poland, France, Great Britain, Colombia and Jordan.  He is credited with being the founding architect of a strategic Special Operations Forces (SOF) - dedicated coalitions for future operations at USSOCOM. US Central Command and then US Special Operations Command.

Prior to USSOCOM Colonel Otero’s war efforts involved three tours to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) deployed out of Qatar. He served as Deputy Chief Operations Branch officer and then Division Chief for Intelligence Operations – Forward headquarters where he directed, facilitated, and planned intelligence support.  In 2005, Colonel was named Chief of Coalition Intelligence at HQ USCENTCOM where he developed the intelligence sharing framework with our coalition allies. He also briefed the Director of Japanese Intelligence on the state of affairs in Iraq for coalition ops.  In 2002 Colonel Otero was co-leader of the team charged with establishing the Intelligence support to Command Forward headquarters in Qatar.

Prior duties included assignments to US Pacific Command as Korean Desk Officer where he wrote the first draft on the policy of Reconciliation for the Korean peninsula; Chief of Tactical Analysis Teams at the US embassies in Ecuador and Colombia; senior analyst counternarcotics and terrorism analyst at the National Security Agency; Space satellite development Officer in the Air Staff at the Pentagon; and tours in Italy and Greece.

A graduate of Iowa State University in 1982 with major concentrations in Journalism, Mass Communications, and Political Science, Colonel Otero holds a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the Air War College, and a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy University.

Colonel Otero is a recognized expert in Coalition development, having given lectures at Iowa State University, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Canadian Royal Military College, Western Hemisphere International School at Fort Benning, Georgia; the prestigious Universidad Menendez Pelayo in Santander, Spain; and quoted on the critical Joint Pub 3-16 on Multinational Operations on Chapter III Page 15. He also is a political military consultant for CNN in Spanish, and several radio and television stations internationally.

Colonel Otero is a recipient of the Defense Superior Service medal,. He also earned the Defense Meritorious Service medal 4 times, 3 Joint Service Commendation Medals, 2 Air Force Commendations Medals, Air Force Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and several other military and international awards and recognitions.