Christopher Skaluba

'01 MAIR

Principal Director for Strategy and Force Development

Office of the Secretary of Defense

Skaluba serves as the Principal Director for Strategy and Force Development at the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He most recently serves as the Principal Director for European and NATO Policy.  Skaluba acted for and collaborated with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense as the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs on all matters falling within the broad spectrum of European and NATO policy.

Prior to this assignment, Skaluba was OSD's Director for European Policy, where he was responsible for formulating, coordinating, and implementing U.S. defense policy for Europe.  He and his office represented the Secretary of Defense and the Department at numerous bilateral, multilateral, and USG interagency events and activities associated with Europe.

Earlier, Skaluba was assigned to OSD's Policy Planning office where he worked on a range of projects, including long-term competitive strategy development and the Defense Policy Board.  He came to Policy Planning from a long-term exchange assignment at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, where he managed London's bilateral defense relations with Japan and South Korea.

Before his assignment in London, Skaluba worked on the Strategy, Plans and Resources staff of OSD's Homeland Defense office.  He handled various strategic planning issues, including development of the Quadrennial Defense Review, the Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support, and the National Response Plan.

As a Presidential Management Fellow with OSD, Skaluba completed tours as an armaments cooperation manager with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, as a speechwriter for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense.  In tours outside the Pentagon, he worked as a defense planner at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels and as a fellow on Capitol Hill with the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations.

Skaluba's previous professional experience includes the Walt Disney Company's Leadership Development Program, Crossroads to Leadership, which he completed while working in various capacities for Disney's Orlando operations.

Skaluba has a master of arts in international relations from the Maxwell School. He also earned a master of arts in English (American Cultural Studies) from Syracuse.  Skaluba taught numerous classes in writing and rhetoric at Syracuse while pursuing his degrees.  He earned a dual bachelors' degree in English and history from the Pennsylvania State University.