President Barack Obama intends to nominate Rand Beers '64, a counterterrorism expert and Obama adviser, as the Department of Homeland Security's under secretary for national protection and programs, the White House announced on Wednesday.
Beers was appointed to serve as acting deputy secretary in the Department of Homeland Security in February 2009, but left earlier this month when Obama's nominee for the position, Jane Holl Lute, was confirmed in the Senate, according to a Homeland Security press release.
The under secretary heads the offices of cybersecurity and communications, infrastructure protection, intergovernmental programs and risk management and analysis, among others.
Beers would be in charge of "continued operations leadership, as well as oversight on intelligence, cybersecurity, technology and coordination with state, local and tribal partners," the release said.
Beers has worked as a civil servant for 35 years over the course of his career, according to a White House statement. He served as assistant Secretary of State for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs under President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush, before becoming Bush's senior director for combating terrorism in 2002. He has also served on the National Security Council under the past four presidents.
Like Obama, Beers opposed the recent war in Iraq. He resigned from the NSC in March 2003, five days before commencement of the U.S. invasion, and proceeded to publicly criticize Bush's foreign policy and become an advisor to the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Beers played an important role in the Obama transition, serving as head of the president's Department of Homeland Security agency review team, according to The Washington Post.
"His team helped set the stage for Secretary [Janet] Napolitano's confirmation and prepare the incoming Obama administration on all homeland security issues," according to the Homeland Security statement.
Beers is also the founder of the National Security Network, a Washington-based foreign policy think tank, and recently served as the organization's president, the statement said.
He served as a Marine officer during the Vietnam War and first entered civil service in 1983, according to the White House release.
Beers has attracted controversy in recent years, most notably for a comment he made about the war record of former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., while speaking during an event at the Center for American Progress in June 2008.
"Sadly, Sen. McCain was not available during those times, and I say that with all due respect to him," Beers said, in reference to McCain's time in captivity and according to ABC News. "I think that the notion that the members of the Senate who were in the ground forces or who were ashore in Vietnam have a very different view of Vietnam and the cost that you described than John McCain does because he was in isolation essentially for many of those years and did not experience the turmoil here or the challenges that were involved for those of us who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam war."
Beer's work experience was cited as a primary reason for his selection in the Department of Homeland Security statement.
"More than anyone I know, Rand Beers can be trusted with protecting the security of the United States," Napolitano said in the release. "He will be an invaluable asset to NPPD. I thank Rand for his service as acting deputy secretary, and I am grateful that his leadership and vast depth of experience will continue to benefit the Department of Homeland Security."
At Dartmouth, Beers played soccer and was a member of Zeta Psi fraternity. He also participated in the Dartmouth Outing Club, the Council On Student Organizations and Naval ROTC, according to the 1964 Aegis.
Beers, along with The White House, Department of Homeland Security and National Security Network, did not return requests for comment by press time.
