Melissa Dalton, principal deputy assistant secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities at the Department of Defense, has been nominated to serve as DOD’s assistant secretary for homeland defense and global security affairs.
She took on her current role in January 2021 after she served as a senior fellow and deputy director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the White House said Friday.
In her current capacity, Dalton advises DOD officials on matters associated with national security and defense strategy and policies related to missile defense and security cooperation strategies.
Her research work at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank aimed to strengthen the principled groundwork of the country’s defense strategy and military missions.
Dalton joined CSIS in 2014 after various civil service roles within DOD such as senior adviser for force planning, special assistant to the defense undersecretary and policy adviser to the International Security Assistance Force’s commander in Kabul, Afghanistan.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.