Milancy D. Harris was sworn in Jan. 3 as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (DUSD(I&S)) at the Department of Defense (DoD). President Biden nominated Harris for the position back in May 2022, and the Senate finally confirmed her nomination on Dec. 22.
Harris brings to the role more than 15 years of government service focused on intelligence analysis, foreign policy, and counterterrorism. Harris served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Irregular War and Counterterrorism since January 2022.
Other positions that Harris has held include Chief of Staff of the Directorate of Intelligence at the National Counterterrorism Center, Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council staff, and Deputy Director of the Emerging Issues Division at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Harris began her career in the intelligence community in 2004 as an analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Between 2019 and 2021, Harris took a step back from government service and worked at Facebook as a manager for governance and strategic initiatives. She then worked as the Chief of Staff for the Oversight Board, created to help Meta craft policy about freedom of expression online.
After two years in the private sector, Harris returned to public service, working at DoD as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism.
In a statement, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie, noted that Harris’ “deep experience and expertise will be invaluable as we work to enhance our intelligence and security capabilities to address the current security environment.”
