WASHINGTON — The Honorable Dan P. Driscoll was sworn as the 26th Secretary of the Army at the White House by Vice President JD Vance Feb. 25, 2025.
In his confirmation hearing Jan. 30, Driscoll promised that he would be the Soldiers’ secretary and would prioritize readiness and modernization to make sure troops have the training, equipment and leadership they need to succeed.
“The Army’s purpose is to protect and advance our national interests by deterring our adversaries,” Driscoll said during his confirmation hearing. “If deterrence fails, to win wars with overwhelming dominance. The world is changing rapidly, and we must ensure the Army is prepared to operate in new, complex and contested environments. From advancing our capabilities in multi-domain operations to cutting-edge technologies, my sacred duty to our Army is to ensure our Soldiers have the world’s finest training, equipment, and leadership to accomplish any mission and to be as lethal a force as it can be.”
He said one of his top priorities will be reinvigorating the defense industrial base.
“New battlefields are teaching us important lessons,” Driscoll said. “These conflicts have demonstrated that the innovation, production and fielding of some of our new weapons and capabilities must be done in weeks and months rather than years or decades. Our nations’ innovators and their companies stand ready for this challenge. We must empower them and hold them accountable for achieving these goals as it is our warfighter who will ultimately pay the price.”
The Iraq war veteran and former Army officer said his commitment to his role is rooted in his family’s long lineage of military service.
His grandfather served in the Army during World War II as a decoder. His father served in the Vietnam War as an infantryman. He served as a cavalry scout in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“In as much as you can trust the plans of an 8-year-old, my son, Daniel, is planning to join the Army too,” Driscoll said. “We are a family that is grateful to have had the privilege of wearing the uniform of the United States Army. We are a family that understands the gravity of leading Soldiers in and out of combat. We are a family that has chosen to serve alongside our brothers and sisters in arms for generations.”
He said he joined the Army as a middle-class public-school child from the mountains of North Carolina.
“The values and experiences I gained through military service molded me into the man I am today and opened the way for opportunities I could scarcely have imagined when I enlisted,” he said. “In my experience, the transformative power of military service is open to all those who are willing and able to shoulder the task.”
Driscoll said during his four years of service and growing up in a military family, he witnessed the dedication, professionalism and resiliency of Soldiers and their families.
“I was fortunate to serve and deploy in combat with Soldiers who represent the best of America,” he said. “The American Soldier’s professionalism, ingenuity and dedication are unmatched. The Soldiers and their families make immense sacrifices to uphold the freedoms we hold dear.”
“This service and sacrifice by Soldiers are what will drive my commitment to ensuring the Army has the resources, leadership and support it needs to remain the world’s premier land force,” he said. “I also saw firsthand how decisions their leaders made affected the lives of our Soldiers, many times decisions which just didn’t make sense. We must do better, and we will do better for our Soldiers.”
Driscoll said recruiting and retention challenges demand innovative solutions and a renewed focus on quality of life for the Soldiers and their families. He worked with the committee to pass funding to improve pay, housing and access to childcare for Soldiers and their families for fiscal year 2025.
Driscoll succeeds Christine Wormuth, who served as Army secretary from May 2021 to January 2025.
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