Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict or ASD(SO/LIC), is the principal civilian advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Defense on special operations and low-intensity conflict matters. Located within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)), the ASD(SO/LIC) is responsible primarily for the overall supervision (to include oversight of policy and resources) of special operations and low-intensity conflict activities. These activities, according to USSOCOM's 2007 Posture Statement, include counterterrorism; unconventional warfare; direct action; special reconnaissance; foreign internal defense; civil affairs, information operations, psychological operations, and counterproliferation of WMD.^{[nb 1]}

United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict
Seal of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict
Flag of an Assistant Secretary of Defense
Incumbent Colby Jenkins Acting  since January 20, 2025
United States Department of Defense
Reports to	United States Secretary of Defense
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	Appointed
Website	Official website

In addition to policy oversight for special operations and stability operations capabilities, the ASD(SO/LIC) has policy oversight for strategic capabilities and force transformation and resources. This includes oversight of capability development to include general-purpose forces, space and information capabilities, nuclear and conventional strike capabilities, and missile defense. As such, ASD(SO/LIC), after the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, will be the principal official charged with oversight over all warfighting capabilities within the senior management of the Department of Defense. The ASD(SO/LIC) is considered part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Structure

This position was mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987 (P.L. 99-661, passed 14 November 1986). The position was officially established on 4 January 1988, by Defense Directive 5138.3. The post's responsibilities for strategic capabilities and forces transformation were added as a result of USD(P) Eric Edelman's 2006 reorganization of the DoD policy office.^[1]

The ASD(SO/LIC) is supported in his/her work by three Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense:

• DASD, Special Operations and Combating Terrorism
• DASD, Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations
• DASD, Counternarcotics and Global Threats
• Executive Director for the Office of Information Operations Policy

In November 2020, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced that Christopher Maier, director of the wide ranging DoD Defeat-ISIS Task Force had resigned, and that the task-force director’s duties and responsibilities will be absorbed by the Office of the ASD (SO/LIC) and regional staffs of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.^[2]

Office holders

The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.

Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict)^[3][4]

Name	Tenure	SecDef(s) Served Under	President(s) Served Under
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict)
Charles S. Whitehouse	July 13, 1988 – July 12, 1989	Frank C. Carlucci III William H. Taft IV (Acting) Richard B. Cheney	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush
Seth Cropsey (Acting)	July 13, 1989 – October 18, 1989	Richard B. Cheney	George H. W. Bush
James R. Locher	October 19, 1989 – June 19, 1993	Richard B. Cheney Leslie Aspin, Jr.	George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton
H. Allen Holmes	November 18, 1993 – April 30, 1999	Les Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton
Brian E. Sheridan	May 7, 1999 – January 12, 2001	William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton
Position vacant	2001–2003	Donald H. Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
Thomas W. O'Connell	July 23, 2003 – April 17, 2007[5]	Donald H. Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities)
Michael G. Vickers	July 23, 2007 – March 17, 2011	Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush Barack Obama
Michael D. Lumpkin (Acting)	March 18, 2011 – October 20, 2011	Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta	Barack Obama
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict)
Michael D. Lumpkin (Acting)	October 21, 2011 – December 19, 2011	Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta	Barack Obama
Michael A. Sheehan	December 20, 2011 – August 25, 2013	Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel	Barack Obama
Michael D. Lumpkin	November 19, 2013 – July 26, 2015	Chuck Hagel	Barack Obama
Theresa M. Whelan (Acting)	July 26, 2015 – May 30, 2017	Ash Carter James Mattis	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Caryn Hollis (Performing the Duties of)	May 30, 2017 – August 1, 2017	James Mattis	Donald Trump
Mark E. Mitchell (Acting)	August 2, 2017 – December 20, 2017	James Mattis	Donald Trump
Owen West	December 20, 2017 – June 22, 2019	James Mattis	Donald Trump
Mark E. Mitchell (Acting)	June 23, 2019 – November 1, 2019	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
Thomas A. Alexander (Acting)	November 2, 2019 – January 20, 2020	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
Thomas A. Alexander (Performing the Duties of)	January 21, 2020 – June 18, 2020	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
Christopher C. Miller (Performing the Duties of)	June 19, 2020 – August 10, 2020	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
Ezra Cohen Watnick (Acting)	August 10, 2020 – November 10, 2020	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
Joseph Tonon (Acting)	November 10, 2020 – January 20, 2021	Christopher C. Miller (Acting)	Donald Trump
Joseph J. McMenamin (Acting)	January 20, 2021 – August 12, 2021	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
Christopher Maier	August 12, 2021 – January 20, 2025	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
Colby Jenkins (Acting)	January 20, 2025 – Present	Pete Hegseth	Donald Trump

Notes

1. Section 167 of Title 10 USC provides a very similar but not identical list of SOF activities.