James Norman Mattis is an American military veteran who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A former Marine Corps four-star general,he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War,the War in Afghanistan,and the Iraq War.
The United States under secretary of defense for policy (USDP) is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The under secretary of defense for policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense for all matters concerning the formation of national security and defense policy.
John M. "Jack" Keane is a former United States Army general who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1999 to 2003. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,he is a national security analyst,primarily on Fox News,and serves as chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and as chairman of AM General.
Jeh Charles Johnson is an American lawyer and former government official. He was United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017.
Evelyn Nicolette Farkas is an American national security advisor,author,and foreign policy analyst. She is the current executive director of the McCain Institute,a nonprofit focused on democracy,human rights,and character-driven leadership.
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the nineteenth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1,2015 to September 30,2019. He was the thirty-sixth commandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the first Marine Corps officer to serve in four different four-star positions;the others include commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces –Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014,and as the thirty-second assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from October 23,2010 to December 15,2012. He has commanded several units,including the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that,Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013,and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps;Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014,he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense,he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon.
The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee,also referred to as the Defense Policy Board,is a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. Their charter is available online through the office of the Director of Administration and Management of the Department of Defense. The committee type is discretionary.
James Northey Miller Jr. is the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory's Assistant Director for Policy and Analysis and also serves on the National Security Council staff as U.S. Coordinator for the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) security agreement. He previously served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 18,2012 until January 8,2014 and as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense from April 2009 to February 2012.
Anthony Jean Tata,is an American retired United States Army officer,author,and government official. He is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army (1981–2009),and later served as a school district administrator for two large school districts in the District of Columbia and North Carolina. He served as Secretary of Transportation of North Carolina from 2013 to 2015 under Governor Pat McCrory. Tata is the author of the Threat series of thriller novels.
Patrick Michael Shanahan is a former United States federal government official who served as acting U.S. Secretary of Defense in 2019. President Donald Trump appointed Shanahan to the role after the resignation of Retired General James N. Mattis. Shanahan served as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019. He previously spent 30 years at Boeing in a variety of roles.
Ezra Cohen,also known as Ezra Cohen-Watnick,is an American intelligence official who served as the acting under secretary of defense for intelligence during the Trump Administration. He previously served as the acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict,national security adviser to the United States attorney general and as a former senior director for intelligence programs for the United States National Security Council (NSC).
David L. Norquist is an American financial management professional and former government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In May of 2022,Norquist was selected as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
Marshall Billingslea is a former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing at the United States Department of the Treasury. He was the Trump Administration's nominee to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs,and he previously served as a U.S. Senate staffer and as a Department of Defense official.
Mark Thomas Esper is an American politician and manufacturing executive who served as the 27th United States secretary of defense from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party,he had previously served as the 23rd U.S. secretary of the Army from November 2017 to July 2019.
The United States Armed Forces have a long history of transgender service personnel,dating back to at least the Civil War. Initially,most such service members were women,who disguised themselves as men in order to serve in combat roles. Many reverted to their female identities upon leaving their service,but others maintained their male identities. In more recent years,openly transgender people have served or sought to serve in the military. The subject began to engender some political controversy starting with transgender servicemembers being banned in 1960 and possibly earlier. This controversy came to a head in the 2010s and was subjected to relatively rapid changes for the next few years. As of 2021,transgender individuals are expressly permitted to serve openly as their identified gender. A brief timeline is as follows:
Randall G. Schriver,also known as Randy Schriver,is the Chairman of the Project 2049 Institute,and previously served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the United States government. He concurrently holds positions as a Commissioner on the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission,and a partner at Pacific Solutions. Previously,Schriver served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and was a founding partner of Armitage International.
Kathryn Lynn Wheelbarger is an American attorney and government official,who served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2018 to 2020.
Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios is an American business executive and government official. He served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role,Kratsios served as President Donald Trump's top technology advisor. From July 10,2020 to January 20,2021,Kratsios was also the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
James H. Anderson is an American government official and academic who served as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Donald Trump administration.
