Christopher Miller
September 12, 2022
Topic: Warnings about America’s Most Dangerous Enemies
Christopher C. Miller served as the Acting Secretary of Defense from November 2020 to January 2021 and Director of the National Counterterrorism Center from August to November 2020. Earlier in 2020, Miller was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict. He also previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism.
Miller oversaw the employment of special operations forces in counterterrorism, military information support operations, information operations, unconventional warfare, irregular warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, counter proliferation, sensitive special operations, and personnel recovery and hostage issues as specified by the Secretary of Defense.
From March 2018 through December 2019, Miller served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism and Transnational Threats at the National Security Council (NSC). In this position, Miller was responsible for strategic level policy making and implementation, and support to senior NSC and White House leadership.
Miller was raised in Iowa City, Iowa and is a retired U.S. Army officer. He was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1987 through R.O.T.C. with a BA in history from the George Washington University. Miller began his military career as an enlisted infantryman in the Army Reserve in 1983 and also served in the District of Columbia National Guard as a Military Policeman. In 1993, he transferred to Special Forces and served in numerous command and staff positions within the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).
Throughout his career, he served within other special operations organizations, culminating with command of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (A). Miller participated in the initial combat operations in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, in addition to numerous follow-on deployments to both theaters, and has extensive inter-agency and joint special operations experience. Upon retirement from the Army in 2014, Miller worked for over 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 earned a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from the Naval War College and is a graduate of the Naval College of Command and Staff and the Army War College.