Many people believe that in a turbulent world, American interests are threatened by forces both domestically and abroad.

For a group of military experts, 2016 presidential candidates are woefully uneducated on the realities of the world in terms of foreign policy and defense.

Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely of Bigfork is one of these experts. To better inform those who might be elected commander-in-chief in 2016, he has founded the Legacy National Security Advisory Group, a defense consulting group.

“Almost all presidential candidates are very shallow on foreign policy and defense,” he said. “Most have never served in war and don’t know how to fight and win one.”

Pressing concerns for the group include the ISIS terror campaign, Yemeni instability, a nuclear Iran and an encroaching Russia.

Vallely, who served in the Vietnam War, said that while young campaign managers can offer political knowledge, military experts are needed to round out a successful candidate.

Others on the Legacy Group include retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, U.S. Navy Adm. James Lyons and U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North. These advisers and experts, many of whom served in Vietnam, in assorted conflicts in the 1980s and in both iterations of conflict in Iraq, say most candidates don’t know how to win a war.

“We’re getting a very good response so far,” Vallely said. “These candidates need schooled people from the military.”

The group will charge candidates for the best information available from around the world but will make it available to all candidates who want it. The goal is to increase sophistication about national security overall so that the campaign will lead to a thorough discussion of foreign policy options.

Vallely has personally kept close tabs on the Middle East, traveling in recent months to Egypt and war-torn Syria.

The Legacy Group collects information from a network of experts and informants around the world through Vallely’s Stand Up America — a multimedia educational group that seeks to uphold the Constitution, defend Israel and protect America’s borders.

He said he got the idea after watching Mitt Romney “fall on his face” in a foreign-policy debate with President Barack Obama in the 2012 campaign. The group has reached out to at least eight Republican candidates and has begun working with several of them.

Even if his Legacy Group is currently working with Republicans, he said his concern is not politics, but the direction of the country.

“[Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders] are progressives. They would probably do the exact opposite of what we said,” Vallely said. “I doubt they’d ask. But if they did ask about our services, we’d think about it. We’re Americans first, Republicans and Democrats second.”

Vallely has been deeply involved in investigations into the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, another reason the Legacy National Security Advisory Group is a project close to his heart.

And to those who have said he is playing the drums of war, he has a quick response.

“You’ve heard of hawks. People say we are being hawkish,” Vallely said. “But we aren’t hawks. We’re eagles.”

For more information on the group, visit www.StandUpAmericaUS.org/legacy-group.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.