Daniel Driscoll

Early Life and Education

Dan Driscoll was born in Boone, North Carolina in 1985. His father served in the Vietnam War and his grandfather served in the U.S. Army in World War II. ¹

Driscoll attended Watauga High School in Boone, North Carolina, where he met his future wife, Cassie Driscoll, who works as a plastic surgeon as of 2025. They have two children. ¹

Driscoll attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned a bachelor’s degree in three years. He left early to join the Army but later attended Yale Law School on the GI Bill. ¹

Military Service

In 2007, Dan Driscoll was commissioned as an armor officer through the Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) in the U.S. Army. Driscoll was assigned as a cavalry scout platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. In October 2009, Driscoll was deployed to Iraq for a nine-month tour. In 2010, Driscoll left the Army. ^{1 2}

Career

In 2011, Driscoll began attending Yale Law School. He worked in Yale’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic, and interned at the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and clerked for then-Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Alex Kozinski. ^{1 2}

In 2014, Driscoll graduated with a law degree, and later worked in venture capital and private equity. ^{1 2 3}

In 2020, Driscoll ran as a Republican for the U.S. Congress to represent North Carolina’s 11th district. He earned 8.6 percent of the vote in the Republican primary election, losing to Madison Cawthorn who would go on to win the general election. ⁴

Driscoll also worked as a senior advisor for then-U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH). ^{1 2}

Secretary of the Army

Nomination

In December 2024, Driscoll was named as then-President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Army, the highest civilian policy position for U.S. Army operations. During his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing in January 2025, Driscoll was criticized for “relative lack of experience” as well as failing to identifying the locations of several U.S. Military bases on the African continent. According to an article on Military.com that same month, “some Army officials behind the scenes [were] concerned [Driscoll] lacks the depth for such a pivotal role.” In February 2025, Driscoll was confirmed as Secretary of the Army. ^{1 2 5}

Activity

In May 2025, Driscoll announced the cancellation of M10 Booker light tank orders for the U.S. Army.  ⁶

In July 2025, the United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA) announced the appointment of former Biden administration Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) head Jen Easterly as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair for the school’s Department of Social Sciences. Following the announcement, on July 30 Driscoll announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he had directed USMA to rescind Easterly’s appointment as well as pausing the selection of USMA employees or instructors by outside groups. ^{7 8}