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Thomas Alexander

Former Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict

 

Mr. Thomas Alexander performed the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict.  Mr. Alexander was appointed as the Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict in November 2019. Previously he was appointed to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats in July 2017.  In his current role, Mr. Alexander is the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on all counterterrorism, special operations, counter narcotics, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and stability operations.  He also provides oversight of all organize, train and equip activities for United States Special Operations Command, and ensures alignment of a $14 billion budget with the National Defense Strategy. Prior to his appointments in Policy, Mr. Alexander was Chief Counsel to the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He was a senior advisor to the Chairman and led the Committee's efforts to oversee programs and policies carried out by the State Department, USAID and other entities within the Committee's jurisdiction.  This included areas such as counterterrorism, foreign assistance, detainee policy, and ensuring the safety and security of U.S. personnel and facilities abroad.

Mr. Alexander also served as National Security Subcommittee Staff Director for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives.  There, he formulated and led numerous hearings and investigations of programs administered by the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and USAID.  These topics ranged from reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq to combatting trafficking and illicit cross-border networks into the United States. Mr. Alexander previously worked in the Department of Defense as the Director of Congressional Investigations in OSD Legislative Affairs and, prior to that, as Counsel to the Oversight Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He is a licensed attorney with a Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College and a Juris Doctorate from the Ave Maria School of Law.