Elbridge A. Colby is the U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy (the civilian policy chief in the War/Defense Department). He is a long‑time national‑security policy professional: Harvard BA, Yale JD; served in DoD/state/intelligence roles (including as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development in 2017–2018), co‑founded the Marathon Initiative think tank, and authored the book The Strategy of Denial. He was nominated in late‑2024 and confirmed by the Senate in April 2025.