Paul N. Stockton

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs (since May 2009)

Why He Matters

Defending American turf is the Pentagon's highest priority, making Stockton's job of overseeing homeland defense a weighty one. The position, which was created in 2002 amidst major bureaucratic restructuring after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, could be especially crucial in the event of future aggressions on U.S. soil. During such a crisis, Stockton would help coordinate any necessary military defense and serve as the Defense Department's domestic crisis manager.

Stockton's list of responsibilities also includes coordinating relations between the Pentagon and local, state and federal civil authorities as well as building security in the Western Hemisphere with regional partners.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Senior research scholar at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation (2006-2009); several positions at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California (1990-2006), including director of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (2002-2006)
Birthday: August 1954
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Alma Mater: Dartmouth College, B.A. in government, 1976; Harvard University, Ph.D. in Government, 1986

Spouse: Missy Stockton
Office: 1400 Defense Pentagon, Washington DC 20301
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Path to Power

A native of Los Angeles, Stockton headed East to launch his academic career, attending Dartmouth College, where he studied government and graduated summa cum laude in 1976. A bachelor's degree was not enough for the intellectually-inclined Stockton, however, so he went on to get his doctorate in government from Harvard University. While studying at Harvard, he served as a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

Upon graduation in 1986, Stockton made his first foray into politics, becoming legislative assistant to the late Sen. Moynihan. He was Moynihan's personal representative to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and advised the four-time senator on defense, intelligence, and counter-narcotics policy. After three years his native California beckoned, and Stockton returned home to academia.

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California Academe

Stockton was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), where he worked from 1989 to 1990. In August of 1990 he joined the faculty of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., marking the beginning of a 16-year relationship.

Five years into his Monterey stint, Stockton co-founded and became director of the school's Center for Civil-Military Relations, aimed at helping more than 80 nations to "strengthen democratic control over their security forces and deepen security cooperation with the United States."

In 2000, he founded and served as acting dean of the School of International Graduate Studies, or SIGS, also at the Naval Postgraduate School. SIGS' academic degree programs focus on current and emerging security challenges and how to strengthen multilateral defense cooperation -- topics not unlike what Stockton deals with in his current position.

In 2001, he was named the naval school's associate provost for institutional development, and from 2002 to 2006, he served as director of the school's Center for Homeland Defense and Security, where he "helped develop the curricula to strengthen U.S. all-hazards preparedness at local, state, and federal levels."

Publications, and Stanford Return

While at the naval school, Stockton also kept busy with research and publications. He is co-editor of "Reconstituting America's Defense: America's New National Security Strategy" (1992) and contributed chapters to several books, including "U.S. Foreign Policy After the Cold War" (1997). In 2005, he helped establish a quarterly journal called Homeland Security Affairs, also serving on the editorial review board. He co-edited "Homeland Security," a graduate text to be published by Oxford University Press, and his research has also appeared in Political Science Quarterly, International Security, and Strategic Survey.

After finally bidding adieu to Monterey in 2006, Stockton went back to Stanford and CISAC, where he became a senior research scholar focused on how U.S. security institutions respond to changes in threat levels and the interaction between congress and the executive branch on national security budgets and policies. He worked at CISAC for three years until joining Obama's administration in 2009.

The Issues

Though an expert on homeland security, Stockton's job actually focuses on homeland defense, a subtle distinction. Homeland defense falls under the purview of the Defense Department, and provides military protection of U.S. territory, domestic population, and defense infrastructure against external aggressions. Homeland security, on the other hand, falls under the Department of Homeland Security, and focuses specifically on preventing terrorist attacks and reducing America's vulnerability to them.

Stockton, who succeeds Paul McHale as only the second person in the Pentagon's homeland defense post, describes the two concepts as "complementary and mutually-supporting."

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As part of its mandate to defend the homeland, the Defense Department has focused on enhancing "its preparedness to respond to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) attacks," Stockton told the House in July 2009.

When confronting terrorism, the U.S. must be "nimble and creative," said Stockton, who praised the Pentagon for creating CBRNE-response capabilities over the last eight years that are "the best funded, best equipped, and best trained in the world." In the National Guard, for instance, DoD has developed, trained, equipped, and certified 55 weapons of mass destruction-civil support teams.

Given the existence of DHS and numerous other agencies also working on anti-terror and post-disaster strategies, interagency coordination at all levels of government has become especially crucial, Stockton said. He emphasized the need for including local and state authorities at all planning stages. "As an academic," he acknowledged, "I was critical of past efforts to build homeland security programs that depend on state and local entities to be implemented effectively without taking state and local perspectives and constraints into consideration."

In this vein, the Pentagon announced in September 2009 that it would start sharing access to classified, terrorism-related information with properly cleared state and local authorities. In a release at the time, Stockton said the action showed DoD's commitment to "supporting states and localities who are leading our efforts to secure the nation from domestic terrorism attacks."

Western Hemisphere Security Issues

Part of Stockton's job also requires vigilance on security issues within the Western Hemisphere.

At Stockton's confirmation hearing in May 2009, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) chided the nominee for "completely unresponsive" written answers to advance policy questions on issues related to Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries on his watch, saying his qualifications for that aspect of the post appeared "to be lacking."

Stockton had previously written in several responses referencing Latin America that he was not familiar with the issue or hadn't yet had the chance to review existing DoD policies. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif), who introduced Stockton as a friend and mentor at the hearing, made a pitch for Stockton's hemispheric credentials, saying he was "interested in and knowledgeable about Latin American affairs and developed the DoD programs in Colombia that helped build the effective security partnerships with important democracies, including assisting the Colombian armed forces with programs to reinforce the rule of law and respect for human rights."

Stockton himself highlighted the need to strengthen programs to combat drug-related violence on the U.S.-Mexico border and said he promised to remain attentive to new security challenges emerging due to climate change, such as the opening of new passages in the polar region to ship traffic.

The Network

At his Senate confirmation hearing in May 2009, Stockton expressed special gratitude to two Washington figures, now both deceased: Sen. Moynihan, who he said gave him his real education in government, and Lacy Suiter, a top FEMA executive and emergency-management leader.

In his current post, Stockton works as part of a team led by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and her deputy, James Miller. Stockton's fellow assistant secretaries of defense in the division include Alexander Vershbow, for international security affairs; Michael Nacht, for global strategic affairs; and Michael Vickers, for special operations/low-intensity conflict and interdependent capabilities.

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Campaign Contributions

Stockton put his support behind Obama with a $250 contribution to his presidential campaign in September 2008. He previously contributed to the campaigns of two other Democrats: Obama Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, with $250 in 2006 for his failed presidential bid, and Rep. Sam Farr of California, with $200 in 2003.

Additional Resources

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