Patrick Piercey

A senior executive and national security expert with over 35 years of experience in the Department of Defense (DoD), Rear Admiral Patrick Piercey has served in senior leadership roles in both joint military and naval policy, planning, strategy, operations, and force generation and readiness.

He has served in positions in the Pentagon and around the world primarily focused on the Indo-Pacific and Europe including recent assignments as chief of staff for U.S. European Command and as director of operations for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command which covers U.S. military operations throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

He has held command four times, and has extensive strategic, operational and planning experience. He has played a critical role in shaping and implementing  DOD strategy in Europe and Asia, while also responding to crises such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, North Korean provocations, and China’s illegal construction in the South China Sea. 

He has a proven track record of building and training high performing organizations, ranging from successfully navigating complex policy situations in both interagency and international arenas to successfully managing complex engineering projects in naval nuclear systems.

Pat earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy where he graduated with distinction, and a Masters of Military Arts and Science degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He was a White House Fellow in the Office of Management and Budget serving as a special assistant to Sylvia Matthews and Sean O’Keefe. While at the Naval Academy, he rowed and was a member of the 1984 men’s heavyweight IRA national championship crew.

Pat is currently a Highly Qualified Expert – Senior Mentor for the Joint Staff, an independent consultant, and lecturer at Yale University. He is an undergraduate capstone faculty member at the Jackson School of Global Affairs (2023-2024).