Leslie Adrienne Payne

Leslie Adrienne Payne is a military and intelligence policy researcher with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, with a background in social science and qualitative research methodologies. With RAND, her research has focused on civilian-military relations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and pertinent issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military services. Ms. Payne previously served as an intelligence officer and military analyst with the Central...See more

Leslie Adrienne Payne is a military and intelligence policy researcher with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, with a background in social science and qualitative research methodologies. With RAND, her research has focused on civilian-military relations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and pertinent issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military services. Ms. Payne previously served as an intelligence officer and military analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a social scientist with the U.S. Army's Human Terrain System, where she was embedded with U.S. military units in Iraq and Afghanistan for 26 months. Her other field work deployments include Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and South Africa. She holds a M.A. in security policy studies from George Washington University, M.A. in international political theory from The New School for Social Research, and B.A. in cultural anthropology from Howard University. Ms. Payne is a current Ph.D. student in the Defence Studies Department at King's College London and lives in Los Angeles, California, with her family. See less