Van Hipp Jr.

Since the September 11th attacks on the United States, Hipp has appeared on the Fox News Channel well over 500 times as an expert commentator on the War on Terror and has been a guest on virtually all of the network's major news programming including The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes. In addition, he has appeared on MSNBC, including Hardball with Chris Matthews and Scarborough Country, CNN with Paula Zahn and Daybreak, the London-based Sky News Channel, and the CBS Evening News. He formerly served on the President's Council of the National Safe Skies Alliance. In 2002, Hipp was named by then Governor Jim Hodges (D-SC) as South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development. In 2011, Hipp was instrumental in organizing the Commander-in-Chief Debate at Wofford College, the first foreign policy and national security Republican presidential debate, which was sponsored by CBS News and National Journal. He is the past Chairman of the Salvation Army Board of Advisors in Alexandria, Virginia, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Visitors of Charleston Southern University.In addition, he was the recipient of the Salvation Army National Capital Area Command's 2015 Compassionate Citizen Award. On November 3, 2016, he presented a lecture entitled "The Greatest Challenge Of Our Next President: Keeping America Safe During These Times" at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Hipp ran unsuccessfully for South Carolina's 1st congressional district in 1994, losing the Republican primary to Mark Sanford.

Following the Tailhook scandal, Hipp was named by U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney to be the principal deputy general counsel of the navy. As the navy's number-two lawyer, Hipp's responsibilities involved all aspects of legal interest to the navy, including government contracts, ethics, environmental and counter-narcotics law. Hipp served in this capacity until January 1993.

In 1990, Hipp was sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Reserve Forces and Mobilization). In this capacity, he served as the Army Secretariat's "point man" for the successful mobilization, and then demobilization, of the army's reserve forces for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

Hipp received his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law. In 1990, Van was the recipient of Wofford College's National Young Alumnus of the Year Award and in 2014, he was the recipient of Wofford College's Distinguished Service Award. In the fall, Hipp is the sideline reporter for Wofford College Football, which plays in the Southern Conference (SOCON) of the NCAA FCS.

Van D. Hipp Jr. is a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, serving from 1987 to 1989. He is chairman of American Defense International, Inc. (ADI), a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm specializing in government affairs, business development and public relations. Hipp is the author of the book The New Terrorism: How to Fight It and Defeat It, published February 2015. One hundred percent of all proceeds go to scholarships for the children of fallen Guardsmen and is being administered by the National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF).

From 1987 to 1989, Hipp served as the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. In 1988, Hipp served as a member of the Presidential Electoral College, and as a speaker at the Republican National Convention, he introduced former speaker of the house, Newt Gingrich.