Pentagon’s deputy secretary confirmed

Deputy Secretary Hicks, who will serve under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, returns to the Pentagon where she served as the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy and the deputy undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans and forces in the Obama administration.

The new appointee joins the Biden administration’s defence and national security team from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she has served as the senior vice president and director of the International Security Program.

In her new role, Deputy Secretary Hicks will be responsible for leading the Pentagon’s day-to-day business, which includes managing the defence budget.

She is among several other Biden appointees who served in the Obama administration, including Secretary Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

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Charbel Kadib

News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media

Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.