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Daniel P. Driscoll

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Dan P. Driscoll
United States Secretary of the Army
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentDonald Trump
SucceedingChristine Wormuth
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BS)
Yale University (JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service2009–2011
Rank First Lieutenant[1]
AwardsArmy Commendation Medal[1]
Ranger tab[1]
Combat Action Badge[1]

Dan P. Driscoll is an American Army veteran, politician, and businessman. He was a Republican candidate for North Carolina's 11th congressional district in the 2020 election.

In December 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Driscoll to serve as the Secretary of the Army under his second administration.[2]

Early life

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Driscoll was raised in Banner Elk, North Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.[3] He was a Yale classmate and friend of Vice President JD Vance,[4] former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and the son of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.[5] Driscoll is a “third generation soldier” whose father was an infantryman in the Vietnam War and whose grandfather served in World War II.[6]

Career

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Driscoll was in the United States Army for three and a half years. He was an armor officer between August 2007 and March 2011 and a cavalry scout platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. He deployed to Iraq for nine months in October 2009. Driscoll earned his Ranger tab at U.S. Army Ranger School and Combat Action Badge.[7] Driscoll later interned for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs[8] and worked at an investment bank in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Driscoll ran for the Republican nomination to represent North Carolina's 11th congressional district in the 2020 election.[3] He lost the primary to another veteran, Madison Cawthorn.

Secretary of the Army

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On December 4, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Driscoll to be the Secretary of the Army for his second administration.[9] Dan had his Senate confirmation hearing earlier than usual on January 30, 2025[10] amidst cabinet officials for ODNI, FBI, and HHS.[11] His first test came 12-hours before his hearing, when an Army HH-60 tragically collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 killing all 67 people involved. Driscoll mourned with the senators, many of whom also served in the military, and vowed to mitigate this risk in the future.[12]

Personal life

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Hailing from Boone, NC, Dan is married to his high school sweetheart, Dr. Cassie Driscoll, a plastic surgeon. They have two children, Daniel Jr. and Lila,[13] both of whom he has nudged to join the Army someday making the line of national service four generations long.[14]

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Beynon, Steve (2024-12-04). "Trump's Army Secretary Pick Is a Former Cavalry Officer, Yale Classmate of JD Vance". Military.com. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  2. ↑ Sherman, Sophia Cai,Colin Demarest,Lucille (2024-12-04). "Trump picks Dan Driscoll for Army secretary". Axios. Retrieved 2024-12-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chávez, Karen. "Republican businessman Dan Driscoll runs for 11th District on security, job creation". Hendersonville Times-News. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  4. ↑ Evans, Nick (2024-07-15). "How J.D. Vance went from 'Hillbilly Elegy' to being tapped as Trump's 2024 running mate • Pennsylvania Capital-Star". Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  5. ↑ "Army secretary nominee talks drones, recruiting, and lawful orders at confirmation hearing". Defense One. 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  6. ↑ Nieberg, Patty (2025-01-30). "Senators grilled Army secretary nominee for 2 hours. Quality-of-life issues barely came up". Task & Purpose. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  7. ↑ Nieberg, Patty (2025-01-30). "Senators grilled Army secretary nominee for 2 hours. Quality-of-life issues barely came up". Task & Purpose. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  8. ↑ "A Former Soldier Brings His Experiences to YLS" (PDF). Development News - Yale Law Report, Summer 2013. 2024-12-04. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-12-04. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  9. ↑ Pandolfo, Chris (2024-12-04). "Trump announces picks for Army secretary, trade adviser, hostage envoy, NASA administrator". Fox News. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  10. ↑ Harper, Jon (2025-01-30). "Trump's nominee for Army secretary calls for buying more commercial off-the-shelf tech". DefenseScoop. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  11. ↑ Fattal, Isabel; Tharoor, Bhumika (2025-01-31). "What Trump's Nominees Revealed". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  12. ↑ Yurk, Briana Reilly and Valerie (2025-01-30). "White House, Army field questions following airliner collision". Roll Call. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  13. ↑ "Statement by President-elect Donald J. Trump Announcing the Nomination of Daniel P. Driscoll as Secretary of the Army | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
  14. ↑ "Nominee for Army secretary tells senators he will serve soldiers not bureaucrats if confirmed". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 2025-01-31.


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