Daniel W. Christman


Daniel William Christman is a retired United States Army lieutenant general, former Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, and the current Senior Vice President for International Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A 1965 graduate of West Point, he went on to earn multiple post-graduate degrees and hold numerous commands during his army career. Christman served in highly visible and strategically important positions and four times was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the nation's highest peacetime service award.

Early life and education

A native of Hudson, Ohio, Christman attended Western Reserve Academy for high school and graduated first in his class from West Point in 1965. He holds master's degrees in civil engineering and public affairs from Princeton University and graduated with honors from George Washington University law school. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., bar associations and is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of the army Ranger School and Airborne School.

Military command positions

Christman's military career included company commands with the 2nd Engineer Battalion, Changpo-Ri, Korea, and the 326th Engineer Battalion, Hue, Vietnam. His battalion command was with the 54th Engineer Battalion in Wildflecken, Germany. He commanded the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Georgia,. He then was the Commanding General, U.S. Army Engineer Center and Fort Leonard Wood and Commandant, U.S. Army Engineer School, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.,. Christman served as the 19th U.S. Representative to the NATO Military Committee, Brussels, Belgium before taking command at the United States Military Academy as the 55th Superintendent.

Major military staff positions

Christman's major staff assignments involved service as Staff Assistant with National Security Council, the White House. He was a Staff Officer in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.,. In both of these assignments, Christman was responsible for advising the Army Chief of Staff and senior staff on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He was also called upon to testify before the House Select Committee on intelligence regarding Soviet compliance with earlier arms control agreements. Christman also served for 21 months as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John M. Shalikashvili. In this capacity, he supported Secretary of State Warren Christopher as a member of the Middle East Peace Negotiating Team and in arms control negotiations with the Russian Federation. Additionally, Christman served for a year and a half as Army adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William J. Crowe, and then as Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States for National Security Affairs. Christman also served as Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy in Department of Army Headquarters, Washington, D.C. His duties in this assignment focused on negotiations relating to the Conventional Forces in Europe arms control talks between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. In the course of supporting these negotiations on behalf of the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Chairman, JCS, Christman briefed former President Bush and traveled to Europe to brief allied heads of state and the NATO Secretary General.

Decorations

Christman has appeared as a military analyst for CNN International during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a frequent contributor to CNN, and has also appeared on ABC, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, and C-SPAN to discuss defense and national security issues. Christman has written and lectured extensively on leadership and national defense, including the ongoing war against international terrorism. Christman was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Ultralife Corporation of Newark, New York, in August 2001. He is currently Senior Vice President International Affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a position he has held since June 2003, and was previously the Executive Director of the Kimsey Foundation in Washington, D.C. He also currently serves as a director of United Services Automobile Association, an insurance mutual corporation and Entegris, Inc., a semi-conductor equipment manufacturer.