Cotton aide earns nod from Harvard

John Noonan, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton’s senior counselor for military and defense affairs, has been named a Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics.

Noonan, who grew up in a military family, served in the United States Air Force and was a nuclear launch officer at the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile alert command centers.

He’ll be spending time on the Cambridge, Mass., campus this fall.

Institute of Politics officials said Noonan will lead a study group that will “analyze the intersection of national security and politics, as well as the shifting geopolitical dynamics that are reshaping the post-World War II international order.”

Before joining Cotton’s staff, Noonan worked on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential bid.

Cotton, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, said he encouraged Noonan to apply for the fellowship.

“I think it will enrich the experience that those students get to have the perspective of a veteran and someone who has worked in the Congress and worked on presidential campaigns,” Cotton said. “I think it will be good for him as well to interact with all of the scholars and distinguished fellows that the Institute has.”