Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities
Flag of an assistant secretary of defense
Incumbent James Caggy since December 29, 2025
United States Department of Defense
Abbreviation	ASD(M&C)
Reports to	Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	Appointed
Formation	July 24, 2023
First holder	James Caggy
Salary	Executive Schedule
Website	Official website

The assistant secretary of defense for mission capabilities (ASD(MC)) is a position in the United States Department of Defense responsible for the overall supervision of mission capabilities, prototype testing, and the demonstration of "multi-domain" concepts. ^[1] The officeholder is the principal advisor to the under secretary of defense for research and engineering.

The position was created in 2023, under the leadership of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. ^[2]

In July 2025, President Donald Trump nominated James Caggy to the position. ^[1]

List of assistant secretaries of defense for mission capabilities

No.	Assistant Secretary		Term			Ref.
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Term length
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
-		Thomas J. Browning Acting	July 24, 2023	January 20, 2025	1 year, 180 days	[3]
-		Marcia Holmes Acting	January 20, 2025	September 29, 2025	252 days	[4]
-		Alex Lovett Acting	September 29, 2025	December 29, 2025	91 days	-
1		James Caggy	December 29, 2025	Incumbent	18 days	-

External links

• Department of Defense website

References

1. Harper, Jon (July 8, 2025). "Trump taps former AWS exec for senior role in Pentagon's research and engineering directorate". DefenseScoop. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
2. "Pentagon Research Office Sets Up Three New Assistant Secretaries". meritalk.com. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
3. "Thomas J. Browning".
4. "Marcia Holmes" (PDF).