Former Acting Secretary of Defense of the United States
Chris Miller is one of his generation’s most experienced national security professionals. His uniformed and civilian service culminated as the Acting Secretary of Defense of the United States from November 2021 through January 2021. He recently founded the counter-drone company, FPF-Defense.
He started his military career as a citizen-soldier in 1983 and retired as a Colonel from Army Special Forces (the Green Berets) in 2014. Most notably during his time in the service, he was a leader of the initial operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. His second career was as a civilian employee in the Department of Defense (DoD) where he specialized in intelligence and Special Operations before serving as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism and Transnational Threats on the White House’s National Security Council.
Chris became a political appointee in January 2020 leading the DoD’s counterterrorism and irregular warfare efforts. He also served temporarily as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict.
Prior to his appointment as Acting Secretary of Defense, the Senate unanimously confirmed Chris on August 6, 2020 as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Raised in Iowa City, Iowa, Chris received a Bachelor of Arts in History from the George Washington University. He earned a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from the Naval War College and is a graduate of the Army War College.
His experiences and philosophy are available in his book, “Soldier-Secretary: Warnings from the Battlefield & the Pentagon about America’s Most Dangerous Enemies”.