On Jan. 7, Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Derrick Anderson was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of War for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. Anderson is the latest Trump administration appointee to have a history in the Special Operations Forces (SOF) community.
SOAA celebrates these outstanding members of our community as they demonstrate how a SOF skill set can bring value in the public sector. Find more below about each appointee’s unique background and the common bonds of service they share.
Lt. Col. Derrick Anderson – Assistant Secretary of War for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict
Anderson was the first member of his family to attend college, and graduated from Virginia Tech with an Army ROTC scholarship in 2006. Anderson received a commission as an infantry officer and completed Ranger School before being assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division and deploying to Iraq to support the surge for 15 months as a platoon leader. Anderson served as a platoon leader with “The Old Guard” at Arlington National Cemetery before completing the Special Forces Qualifications Course. He deployed to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, first as a Detachment Commander and later as a Company Executive Officer.
Prior to his appointment in the War Department, Anderson previously held appointments as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and Director of Counterterrorism for the National Security Council.
Chief Warrant Officer Joe Kent (Ret.) – Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
After enlisting in the U.S. Army at 18 in 1998, Kent became a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment. He later joined the Special Forces, completing the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2001. After more than 20 years of service that included 11 combat deployments, Kent retired from the military in 2018 and served as a paramilitary officer with the CIA’s Special Activities Center.
Col. Michael Jensen (Ret.) – Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council
A 2001 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Jensen retired as a Colonel following a 20-year career as a Special Tactics Officer in the Air Force Special Operations Command. Over his career, he operated across four continents before standing up the 26th Special Tactics Squadron. In addition to serving as the Deputy Commander of the 700-strong 724th Special Tactics Group at Fort Bragg, Jensen was the lead strategist for CHECKMATE, a Pentagon cell that reconstructed Air Force war plans to strategically advise the President and Secretary of War in times of crisis.
Capt. Hung Cao (Ret.) – Under Secretary of the Navy
Cao’s family arrived in the U.S. as refugees from Vietnam in 1975. Fourteen years later, Cao joined the Navy as a seaman recruit, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1996. He received a commission as a Special Operations Officer and began a career as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer, where he led missions in Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In addition to holding a prestigious role at the Pentagon and operating alongside the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, Cao earned a Masters Degree in Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School and held fellowships at MIT and Harvard. Cao retired as a Captain in October 2021.
Col. Ronald Johnson (Ret.) – U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
After enlisting in the Army National Guard in 1971, Johnson went through Officer Candidate school in 1973 and graduated from the Special Forces Qualifications Course four years later. He was assigned to the 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Johnson’s military career was heavily focused on South America, including tours as a detachment commander of 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Panama and in El Salvador. He also deployed to the Balkans to seek out war criminals as part of a joint team of CIA, NSA, and Special Mission Unit personnel. After his military career, Johnson rose to prestigious roles inside the CIA and served as the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador between 2019 and 2021.
Col. Mike Waltz (Ret.) – National Security Advisor
A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Waltz attended Ranger School before attending the Special Forces Qualification Course and becoming a Green Beret in 2000. Waltz served multiple combat deployments in Afghanistan. During one deployment, Waltz led a Navy SEAL Team and seven Green Beret teams on a search to find Private Bowe Bergdahl, a soldier who was taken hostage by the Haqqani Network after deserting his post in Afghanistan in 2009.
Waltz served 27 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard and retired as a Colonel. Under President George W. Bush, Waltz served as a director of defense policy at the Pentagon and as Vice President Dick Cheney’s counterterrorism adviser. In 2018, Waltz won a seat in the House of Representatives for Florida’s 6th Congressional District, making him the first Green Beret elected to Congress.
