Mark Lippert Mark William Lippert ( born February 28 , 1973 ) is the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense . He previously served as Chief of Staff for the National Security Council and as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs in the Department of Defense . Education and early career . Lippert was born in and grew up in Cincinnati , Ohio . His father , James Lippert , is a lawyer . Lippert graduated from Stanford University where he studied political science . While he considered entering Officer Candidate School after college , he returned to Stanford and received a Master ' s Degree in international policy studies . While in graduate school at Stanford , he studied Mandarin Chinese at Peking University as part of a study abroad program . Prior to 1999 , he worked at the State Department and for California Senator Diane Feinstein . Lippert was a defense and foreign policy advisor to then Senator and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and the Senate Democratic Policy Committee from 1999 to October 2000 . He then served as a researcher for Senator Patrick Leahy from October 2000 to February 2001 . Lippert served on the professional staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee , State – Foreign Operations Subcommittee , from February 2001 to June 2005 . In June 2005 , he became a foreign policy advisor to then Senator Barack Obama , who was then serving on the Senate Foreign Relations committee . He was recruited by Senator Obama ' s then Chief of Staff , Pete Rouse , who is currently serving as Counselor to the President . Lippert was also commissioned into the Navy Reserve in 2005 through the Navy ' s direct commission officer program as an intelligence officer . From August 2007 until June 2008 , he served about a year in what had been scheduled as a nine - month tour of duty in Iraq as an intelligence officer with the Navy SEALs . He received a Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq . After he returned from Iraq , Lippert served as a senior foreign policy advisor to then Senator Obama ' s 2008 presidential campaign . He was responsible for briefing Obama on emerging foreign policy issues throughout the campaign . He helped prepare Obama on foreign policy for the presidential debates . Lippert later served as deputy director for foreign policy for the Obama – Biden Transition Project . Throughout his time in the Senate and during the presidential campaign , Lippert was noted for having a close relationship with then Senator Obama . He is credited for helping Obama develop his views on defense and foreign policy , particularly his support for a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq , which was completed under President Obama in December 2011 as well as Obama ' s emphasis on transnational security issues , such as genocide and weapons of mass destruction . Obama administration . Following Obama ' s inauguration in January 2009 , he was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for the National Security Council , a position which had not existed in the Bush administration , but had existed in previous administrations . During his time as Chief of Staff , Lippert oversaw the merger of the staffs of the Homeland Security Council , which had been created in October 2009 by President Bush , and the National Security Council , into a single National Security Staff . Unlike his recent predecessors , then National Security Advisor and retired Marine Corps General , Jim Jones , delegated much of the day - to - day responsibilities for the National Security Council to his deputy , Thomas Donilon , and to a couple of Obama campaign veterans , including Denis McDonough and Mark Lippert . In October 2009 , Lippert resigned from the National Security Council to return to active duty in the Navy . There was speculation surrounding Lippert ' s resignation that he was pushed to leave due to significant disagreements with General Jones , especially with respect to the troop surge . Jones accused Lippert of leaking information about him to Bob Woodward for " Obama ' s Wars " . Lippert was succeeded by Denis McDonough , who served as National Security Council Chief of Staff until October 2010 , when he became Deputy National Security Advisor . Lippert had originally recruited McDonough to serve as then Senator Obama ' s foreign policy advisor during his deployment to Iraq . McDonough was in turn replaced in January 2011 by Brooke Anderson , then deputy to Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice . Lippert spent two years serving as an intelligence officer with the Navy SEALs and the Naval Special Warfare Development Group , better known by its former name , SEAL Team Six , including deployments to Afghanistan and undisclosed locations in Africa . He continued to be on the White House payroll while on active duty , which is permitted by federal law , but caused some controversy . After completing his active duty with the Navy , Lippert was nominated by President Obama in October 2011 to succeed General Wallace Gregson as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs . While Lippert ' s nomination was held up for several months due to holds placed on it by Senators John McCain and John Cornyn Lippert ' s relationship with former National Security Advisor Jim Jones , and over F - 16 sales to Taiwan , respectively , he was confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote on April 2012 . When Kurt Campbell resigned as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in February 2013 , Lippert was rumoured as a possible replacement for Campbell . Lippert was named newly - confirmed Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ' s Chief of Staff in early May 2013 .