Speakers

A native of Newport, RI, Admiral Christopher W. Grady graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1984 and received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program. Grady is also a distinguished graduate of both Georgetown University, where he participated as a fellow in Foreign Service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the National War College. Grady, a career Surface Warfare Officer, served aboard USS Moosbrugger (DD 980) as a combat information center officer and antisubmarine warfare officer. As a department head, he served as weapons control officer and combat systems officer aboard USS Princeton (CG 59). He then commanded Mine Countermeasures Rotational Crew Echo aboard USS Chief (MCM 14) and later deployed to the Arabian Gulf in command of USS Ardent (MCM 12). Grady subsequently commanded USS Cole (DDG 67), deploying as part of NATO's Standing Naval Forces Mediterranean. In command of Destroyer Squadron 22, he deployed to the Arabian Gulf as sea combat commander for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. Ashore, Grady served in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then as naval aide to the Chief of naval operations, as the assistant branch head of the Europe and Eurasia Politico-Military Affairs Branch (OPNAV N524), as executive assistant to the Navy's Chief of Legislative Affairs, as the deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council in the White House, and as the executive assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. As a flag officer, he first served as Director of Maritime Operations, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet(N2/3/5/7), then subsequently commanded Carrier Strike Group 1/Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group, where he deployed for nearly 10 months to the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf conducting combat operations in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. He later served as Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic; Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet/Commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO/Deputy Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa. From May 2018 until December 2021, he served as the Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, the Naval Component Commander to both U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command, as the Joint Force Maritime Component Commander for U.S. Strategic Command and executed Task Force Atlantic in coordination with U.S. Naval Forces Europe. Admiral Grady was sworn in as the twelfth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's second highest-ranking military officer, on 20 December 2021. The admiral represents the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council and chairs the Joint Requirement Oversight Council (JROC), which is responsible for reviewing and establishing acquisition priorities for major weapon systems amongst the military branches. He also co-chairs the Deputy Management Action Group (DMAG) and the Deputy’s Workforce Council (DWC) with the deputy secretary of defense to address departmental budgetary priorities and serves as the senior member of the Nuclear Weapons Council, responsible for managing the atomic stockpile and coordinating nuclear weapon-related programs and budgets. The admiral is the Navy's "Old Salt", its longest-serving surface warfare officer on active duty.