Alumnus Moves up Pentagon Ladder

After serving for two years in the Department of Defense as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counter Narcotics and Global Threats, Thomas A. Alexander (’99) was recently appointed to a new role: Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict.

In his new position, which he assumed in November, 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 organizational, training, and equipping activities for United States Special Operations Command and oversees a $14 billion budget.

“I rely on the College’s training each and every day,” Mr. Alexander says of his undergraduate education. “Foremost is the ability to quickly analyze and methodically resolve complex matters; then, to prioritize sound facts and morals in my decision making. I am never afraid to defend a position rooted in these fundamentals.”

Mr. Alexander holds a juris doctor from the Ave Maria School of Law. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, he served as chief counsel to the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also formerly served as National Security Subcommittee Staff Director for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives. Earlier in his career he 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.

The book from his liberal education which he credits as having made the most lasting impression? Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.