During his early career he was a member of the U.S. National Security Officers Community, serving in several operational posts. He is a National Security Advisor to several U.S. Government organizations. Newton has served on multiple U.S. Government Science Advisory Boards and was the Defense Diplomat Attache at Defense Offices. His work has garnered him several awards and honors, including a nomination to the White House Fellowship during the Clinton administration. In 2002 Dr. Howard founded the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS) in Washington D.C., a non-profit national security organization dedicated to researching innovations for peace and conflict resolution. He is the former chairman and current Vice-Chairman and Chief Science Officer at CADS.