Message to the Troops from SpecOPs Veteran, Christopher C. Miller, Acting SecDef
MEMORANDUM FOR ALL DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EMPLOYEES SUBJECT: Initial Message to the Department
NOV 1 3 2020
Apart from leading fighting men and women in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq earlier in my career, serving as your Acting Secretary of Defense is the greatest privilege of my professional life.
Our mission at the Department of Defense has been – and remains – serving the people of the United States with honor and integrity so that they may continue to enjoy the blessings of freedom and liberty. To do this, we must take care of each other, focus on outcomes. and remain the most dynamic and innovative organization and fighting force in the world.
With a foundation built upon respect, professionalism, competence, and honesty, we will continue to transform our Department to compete in a new strategic environment. This requires changes in organizations, skills, and decision-making processes. But we know how to do this. We have done it before – and no one on earth does it better. We will continue to aggressively challenge established paradigms, maintain and modify those that have value. and courageously discard those that have run their course.
Today, with enormous gratitude to those who came before us. we face the future with confidence and humility. We are the inheritors of the genius of our founders and generations of successors who created an organization ruthlessly committed to excellence, non-partisanship. and servant leadership. This motivates me enormously and allows me to face the daily challenges of our chosen calling.
The opportunity to again work with all of you and serve as your leader is something that could only happen in America. After all, I still see myself as a kid from Iowa who enlisted to serve his Nation, be challenged, and do something that matters – which is what each of you do every day. I am a better person thanks to the opportunities that the Army and the Department of Defense provided me, and my story, while not distinctive, is emblematic of the boundless opportunities that are available in this ongoing experiment of democracy. To each of you, I offer my utmost gratitude and respect for your willingness to sacrifice so much to our vital mission.
My thoughts. hopes, dreams, and prayers are with all of you and your loved ones as we resolutely lean into the future and update our processes and structures to guarantee that our Armed Forces remain preeminent and the beacon ofjustice and goodness in the world.
As we prepare for the future. we remain committed to finishing the war that Al Qaida brought to our shores in 2001. This war isn’t over. We are on the verge of defeating Al Qaida and its associates, but we must avoid our past strategic error of failing to see the fight through to the finish. Indeed, this fight has been long, our sacrifices have been enormous. and many are weary of war – I’m one of them – but this is the critical phase in which we transition our efforts from a leadership to supporting role. We are not a people of perpetual war – it is the antithesis of everything for which we stand and for which our ancestors fought. All wars must end.
Ending wars requires compromise and partnership. We met the challenge; we gave it our all. Now, it’s time to come home. As I consider the scarring but ennobling experience many of us have undergone during this war, the words of Abraham Lincoln during his second Inaugural Address bring me strength, perspective, and confidence:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.’·
To all of our Soldiers, Sailors. Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Space Professionals, and civilians: Continue to be bold. Continue to be courageous. Continue to set the example of selfless service that is the envy of the world and an example for our citizens. Our tasks are not easy. The burden is great. But together we will take our Nation to new heights.
What a magnificent time to be a part o f the Department o f Defense and the United States Armed Forces. Our Nation needs you, and I’m enormously proud of you. I am humbled and honored to be on your team.
Christopher C. Miller
12 Nov. Defense One reported: Retiring diplomat Jim Jeffreys speaks out of both sides of his mouth, admitting to deceiving the Commander in Chief:
“But even as he praises the president’s support of what he describes as a successful “realpolitik” approach to the region, he acknowledges that his team routinely misled senior leaders about troop levels in Syria.
“We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there,” Jeffrey said in an interview. The actual number of troops in northeast Syria is “a lot more than” the roughly two hundred troops Trump initially agreed to leave there in 2019.” Full article link in tweet and below.
Read the full article at DefenseOne.
BACKGROUND: Mr. Christopher C. Miller is the Acting Secretary of Defense, appointed Nov. 9, 2020. All reporting DOD
Earlier this year, he Performed the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict. He also previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism (SOCT). Mr. Miller was responsible for overseeing the employment of special operations forces in counterterrorism, Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Information Operations, unconventional warfare, irregular warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, counter proliferation, sensitive special operations, and personnel recovery/hostage issues as specified by the Secretary of Defense. Mr. Miller was sworn in as the DASD for SOCT on Jan. 6, 2020.
From March 2018 through December 2019, Mr. Miller served as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism and Transnational Threats at the National Security Council (NSC). In this position, Mr. Miller was responsible for strategic level policy making and implementation, and support to senior NSC and White House leadership.
Mr. 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 Bachelor of Arts in History from the George Washington University. Mr. 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). He years in the Armed Forces spanned from 1983 to 2014. He played a major role in the invasion of Afghanistan and served as Special Operations Commander of the 5th Special Forces Group in Afghanistan.
Throughout his career, he served within other special operations organizations, culminating with command of the 2nd Battalion, 5th SFG(A). Mr. 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, Mr. 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.
Mr. Miller possesses 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. Mr. Miller lives in Virginia with his wife. They have two grown daughters and a son in college.
DOD Statement
As announced yesterday, November 9, President Trump has designated the National Counter Terrorism Center Director, Chris Miller, as the Acting Secretary of Defense. Mr. Miller took over those functions and responsibilities mid-day yesterday. Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist remains in his position and continues to execute his responsibilities.
Today, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. James Anderson, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Mr. Joseph Kernan and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense, Jen Stewart submitted letters of resignation.
Dr. Anderson submitted his letter of resignation to the President this morning, effective today. The Acting Secretary of Defense has delegated the responsibilities of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy to Mr. Anthony Tata. As such, Mr. Tata is the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He previously was the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Dr. Thomas Williams will now perform the duties of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
As planned for several months, Under Secretary Kernan submitted his letter of resignation, effective today. Current Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operation and Low-Intensity Conflict Ezra Cohen-Watnick will be the new Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. Mr. Ralph Cacci will continue to perform the duties of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
Also today, Ms. Stewart submitted her resignation from the position of Chief of Staff, effective today. Mr. Kash Patel, currently on the National Security Council staff, has been named by Acting Secretary Miller as his Chief of Staff.
Acting Secretary of Defense Miller issued the following statement on these personnel changes: “I want to thank Dr. Anderson, Admiral Kernan and Jen Stewart for their service to the nation and the Department. Over their careers each has contributed greatly to the national defense and the future of the Department of Defense. We wish them the best in their next endeavors.