Michèle Angélique Flournoy is an American defense policy advisor and former government official. She was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy under President Bill Clinton and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy under President Barack Obama.
Lloyd James Austin III is a retired United States Army four-star general who has served as the 28th and current United States secretary of defense since January 22,2021.
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 Charles Rood is an American national security adviser and former government official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from January 2018 to February 2020. Before that,he was Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin where he oversaw international business. He also served as vice president for Domestic Business Development at Lockheed Martin and he was a vice president at the Raytheon Company.
Eric Steven Edelman is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005–2009),U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (2003–2005),U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Finland (1998–2001),and Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001–2003). A career Foreign Service Officer,Edelman entered the Senior Foreign Service in 1992. He is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense's award for Distinguished Civilian Service (1993) and the State Department's Superior Honor Award.
Kurt Michael Campbell is an American diplomat and businessman serving as the United States deputy secretary of state since 2024. He previously served as National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific from 2021 to 2024. In this capacity,Campbell had been referred to as the Biden administration's "Asia coordinator" or "Asia czar"—chief architect of Joe Biden's Asia strategy.
Celeste Ann Wallander is an American international relations advisor who currently serves as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the United States Department of Defense.
Kori N. Schake is the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. She has held several high positions in the U.S. Defense and State Departments and on the National Security Council. She was a foreign-policy adviser to the McCain-Palin 2008 presidential campaign. Schake is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She serves on the board of advisors of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Alexander Hamilton Society.
In the United States,the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs or ASD (ISA) is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD (P)) and the United States Secretary of Defense on international security strategy and policy on issues of Department of Defense (DoD) interest related to the governments and defense establishments of the nations and international organizations of Europe (including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization),the Middle East,Africa,and the Western Hemisphere. The ASD (ISA) also oversees security cooperation programs and foreign military sales programs in these regions. Despite the broad title of the office,the ASD (ISA) does not develop policy related to Asia,the Pacific region,Latin America,or South America.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs,or ASD (IPSA),is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)) and the Secretary of Defense on international security strategy and policy on issues of DoD interest that relate to the governments and defense establishments of the nations and international organizations within the Indo-Pacific region. It primarily includes the entire region from India to Japan,and the region where ASEAN is located. The position was originally titled Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs but was renamed by the Trump Administration alongside the renaming of the United States Indo-Pacific Command.
Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many high-level executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Assistant Secretary of Defense title is junior to Under Secretary of Defense. Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 30 June 1953 increased the number of assistant secretaries. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 added three new Assistant Secretary positions under the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering. The list of Assistant Secretaries of Defense includes:
John F. Kirby is a retired United States Navy rear admiral serving as White House National Security Communications Advisor since 2024. He previously served in the Biden administration as Pentagon Press Secretary and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs from 2021 to 2022 and as Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House from 2022 to 2024. He worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. He served in the Obama administration as Pentagon Press Secretary from 2013 to 2015 and as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 2015 to 2017.
Derek Chollet is an American foreign policy advisor and author currently serving as the counselor of the United States Department of State. Previously,Chollet was the executive vice president for security and defense policy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. From 2012 to 2015,Chollet was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs,where he managed U.S. defense policy involving Europe,NATO,the Middle East,Africa,and the Western Hemisphere for Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel.
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader,public servant,educator,and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
Colin Hackett Kahl is an American political scientist who served as under secretary of defense for policy in the Biden administration from April 28,2021,to July 17,2023. Previously,he served as national security advisor to the vice president under then-Vice President Joe Biden (2014–2017). After the Obama administration,Kahl served as a Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University.
The National Defense Strategy (NDS) is produced by the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and is signed by the United States Secretary of Defense as the United States Department of Defense's (DoD) capstone strategic guidance. The NDS translates and refines the National Security Strategy (NSS) (produced by the U.S. President's staff and signed by the President) into broad military guidance for military planning,military strategy,force posturing,force constructs,force modernization,etc. It is expected to be produced every four years and to be generally publicly available.
Christine Elizabeth Wormuth is an American defense official and career civil servant who serves as the United States Secretary of the Army since 2021. She is the first female United States Secretary of the Army.
Kathleen Anne Holland Hicks is an American government official who has served as the United States deputy secretary of defense since 2021. She is the first Senate-confirmed woman in this role and is the highest ranking woman to have served in the United States Department of Defense. Hicks previously served as the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration. By 2020 Hicks was an academic and national security advisor working as a senior vice president and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Melissa Griffin Dalton is an American defense official who is serving as the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs in the Biden administration.
