Biographies

Christine Abizaid was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia in December 2014.

Prior to joining the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Ms. Abizaid served on the National Security Council Staff as both a Director for Counterterrorism and Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. She also served for seven years with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Joint Intelligence Task Force Combating Terrorism as the Senior Intelligence Analyst in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Division and the Iraq/Middle East Division. During this time she deployed several times throughout the Middle East, including a tour as the senior DIA counterterrorism representative in Iraq.

Ms. Abizaid holds a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego and an M.A. degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University. She has received the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Award, the National Military Intelligence Association John T. Hughes Award, and DIA Meritorious Civilian Service Award.