|
|
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities
Michael G. (“Mike”) Vickers was nominated as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities by President Bush on April 4, 2007, and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 23, 2007. President Obama announced on February 26, 2009, that Mr. Vickers would continue to serve as ASD (SO/LIC&IC).
Mr. Vickers is the senior civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense on the operational employment and capabilities of special operations forces. He is also the senior civilian adviser on counterterrorism, irregular warfare, counternarcotics, and special activities. In his Interdependent Capabilities role, he advises the Secretary of Defense on the operational employment and capabilities of strategic and conventional forces.
Prior to his appointment as ASD (SO/LIC&IC), Mr. Vickers served as Senior Vice President, Strategic Studies, at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). From 1973 to 1986, Mr. Vickers served as an Army Special Forces Non-Commissioned Officer, Special Forces Officer, and CIA Operations Officer. During this period, Mr. Vickers had operational and combat experience in Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. His operational experience spans covert action and espionage, unconventional warfare, counterterrorism (including hostage rescue operations), counterinsurgency, and foreign internal defense. During the mid-1980s, Mr. Vickers was the principal strategist for the largest covert action program in the CIA’s history: the paramilitary operation that drove the Soviet army out of Afghanistan.
Mr. Vickers received his B.A., with honors, from the University of Alabama. He also holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
|
