Chris Miller
Acting Secretary of Defense
Christopher C. Miller grew up in Iowa City, Iowa. He earned an undergraduate degree in history from George Washington University. He later earned other degrees and graduated from other colleges provided through the military. By way of the ROTC, he was commissioned into the U.S. Army as an infantry officer. After four years of active duty, he joined the Army Reserve. He also served in the District of Columbia National Guard as a military policeman. He transferred to Special Forces and served in numerous command and staff positions with the 5th Special Forces Group Airborne. He participated in the initial combat operations in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003, as well as on numerous follow-on deployments to both theaters.
On his retirement from the Army, Miller worked for two years as a defense contractor providing clandestine special operations and intelligence expertise directly to the Under Secretaries of Defense for Intelligence and Policy.
Miller served two years as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism and Transnational Threats at the National Security Council in the Trump Administration. He performed the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict. He was sworn in as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combatting Terrorism in January 2020.
President Donald Trump appointed Miller as the Acting Secretary of Defense on November 9, 2020.
He is married and has three adult children.
In the News…
Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller announced to reporters at the Pentagon that President Trump has decided to draw down to 2,500 troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq by January 15. The president’s decision is “consistent” with existing plans and “does not equate to a change in U.S. policy or objectives,” he said.
“I celebrate this day as we continue the president’s consistent progress in completing the mission we began nearly two decades ago,” Miller said.
President Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien also said the drawdown does not reflect a change in policy, and that it has been the president’s policy since he took office.
