The Pentagon said Wednesday that Elbridge Colby has been appointed deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development. Colby has been working as a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan think tank focusing on U.S. national security policy.
Colby’s role in the Senior Executive Service will involve advising the deputy undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces on the development of strategy toward key countries and defense planning scenarios for conflicts worldwide. The position does not require Senate approval.
At CNAS Colby consulted with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Navy, Air Force, Strategic Command, and the State Department on defense, nuclear deterrence, and arms control issues, the Defense Department said in a statement.
Colby also previously served as a research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses’ Strategic Initiatives Group; policy adviser to the defense secretary’s representative for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty; adviser to the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States; and staff member to the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Colby in a Foreign Policy article published last August highlighted the value of nuclear weapons for deterrence and argued against U.S. declaration of a no-first-use posture, saying such a pledge “is not the kind of commitment a nation can turn on and off without damage to its credibility and reputation.”
