General Mark Milley

General Mark A. Milley served as the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest-ranking military officer and principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. Nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate, Milley brought more than four decades of military experience to the role. His tenure as Chairman spanned two presidential administrations and included involvement in significant national security events, such as the operation resulting in the death of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the conclusion of the war in Afghanistan.

Milley earned his commission through Army ROTC at Princeton University, where he studied political science and completed a senior thesis on revolutionary guerrilla warfare. He holds master's degrees in international relations from Columbia University and in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. Milley is also a graduate of the MIT Seminar XXI National Security Studies Program. Throughout his career, he held command and staff positions across eight divisions and Special Forces units, leading soldiers in operations including Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his command of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Baghdad, Milley intervened to prevent an oncoming tank from rolling over an improvised explosive device, an act for which he was nominated for an award.

Before his appointment as Chairman, Milley served as the 39th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, where he advocated for military modernization and transformation of the Army's acquisition model to address evolving global threats. His military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Milley has also received the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute's Lifetime of Leadership Award, Princeton's Woodrow Wilson Award, and the Princeton Varsity Club Citizen-Athlete Award.

Following his retirement from active duty, Milley has contributed to national security and leadership education as a Distinguished Fellow in Residence with the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and as a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. He continues to speak on topics including geopolitics, strategic decision-making, and ethical leadership in the military and national security sectors.