John Rood

John Charles Rood (born 1968) is a former American national security policymaker and government official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Prior to assuming his role, he was Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin where he oversaw international business.He also served as Vice President for Domestic Business Development at Lockheed Martin and he was a Vice President at the Raytheon Company.On February 19, 2020, he was asked to leave the administration by Trump.

Rood has also served as Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. He served at the United States National Security Council as special assistant to the president and senior director of Counterproliferation and Director of Proliferation Strategy for Counterproliferation in Homeland Defense. Rood served at the Defense Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Forces Policy, and at the Central Intelligence Agency as an analyst following missile programs in foreign countries. In addition, he served as senior policy advisor to U.S. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona.

On October 16, 2017, Rood was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 3, 2018. In January of 2018, Secretary James N. Mattis released the National Defense Strategy (NDS) which places the order of priorities for the Department of Defense as China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and then Countering Terrorism. As the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Rood is responsible for the implementation of the NDS worldwide.