Jeff Zeberlein

Jeff Zeberlein is an F/A-18 pilot and Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor with the US Navy. Most recently, he served as an operational department head for Strike Fighter Squadron 151 and deployed to CENTCOM aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operations Inherent Resolve, Poseidon Archer, and Prosperity Guardian. Previously, he deployed to the Middle East and Indo-Pacific aboard the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Carl Vinson on various deployments, logging 1,900 flight hours and 450 carrier landings. He has also served as a tactical subject matter expert on Chinese, Russian, and Iranian surface-to-air missiles. Jeff was selected as a Navy Politico-Military Masters Fellow in 2022 and earned a Master of International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a volunteer mentor for Service 2 School. In 2026, Jeff is transitioning to the Navy Reserves and beginning a new role at Saronic Technologies, a defense start-up building autonomy for maritime supremacy. A native of Fairfax, VA, he currently resides in Virginia Beach, VA, with his wife and three kids.