Afghanistan War Commission Appoints Executive Director & Sets Official Start Date for Review
July 12, 2023
Executive Director Appointment
The bipartisan leadership of the Afghanistan War Commission, Co-Chairs Shamila N. Chaudhary and Dr. Colin F. Jackson, today announced the appointment of Jaime Cheshire as the Executive Director.
The Commission was established by the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to conduct a comprehensive review of key strategic, diplomatic, and operational decisions related to the war in Afghanistan between June 2001 to August 2021 in order to craft “lessons learned and recommendations for the way forward that will inform future decisions by Congress and policymakers throughout the United States Government.”
“The Afghanistan War Commission will thrive under Ms. Cheshire’s leadership. Throughout her service on the House Armed Services Committee and as a career executive officer at the CIA, she exemplified the same values critical to the work of the Commission: a commitment to civil discourse, intellectual integrity, and a persistence in support of U.S. national security,” said Commission Co-Chair Shamila N. Chaudhary.
Commission Co-Chair Dr. Colin F. Jackson said, “Ms. Cheshire brings a terrific balance of national security and oversight experience to the Commission. Under Ms. Cheshire’s leadership, we will build a seasoned and objective team of analysts and researchers to document decisions made in Afghanistan and critical lessons learned for future policymakers.”
Ms. Cheshire was selected for this important mission based on her longstanding commitment to public service and her extensive experience working in the United States government. Most recently, she served as the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Executive Secretary, where she was responsible for leading both the Executive Secretariat’s Action Center and the CIA Operations Center. Ms. Cheshire also advised CIA senior leadership on all legislative strategy and oversight matters in the role of Director of Congressional Affairs from 2017-2021. Before joining the CIA, she served for 17 years on Capitol Hill, including eight years as a professional staff member and Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Her time on the Committee included six oversight trips to Afghanistan. Ms. Cheshire will assume the role of Executive Director of the Commission on July 26, 2023.
Official Start Date for Commission Review
The Commission will hold its first official business meeting on Wednesday, August 23, 2023. As stated in the FY22 NDAA, the Commission is required to submit its final report to appropriate congressional committees within three years of its first meeting. Co-Chairs Chaudhary and Jackson will lead the first meeting and participation will be limited to Commissioners and Commission staff. It will be the first of several private and public engagements of the Commission to take place over the next three years.
Background
In FY 2022, a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. Congress from majority and minority leadership and various committees (Foreign Affairs; Intelligence; Armed Services) appointed the following sixteen commissioners to the Commission:
Dr. Anand Gopal
Luke Hartig
Dr. Seth Jones
Hon. Michael Lumpkin
Laurel Miller
LTC Chris Molino (ret.)
Gov. Bob Taft
Dr. Andrew Wilder
Shamila N. Chaudhary, Co-Chair
Dr. Colin F. Jackson, Co-Chair
Michael Allen
LTG Robert Ashley (ret.)
Jeremy Bash
Amb. Ryan Crocker
Jeffrey Dressler
Daniel Fata
Click here to read biographies of the Commissioners.
Click here to read Jaime’s bio.
Click here to read the full text of Sec. 1094 of the FY22 NDAA establishing the Commission.
Contact Us
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Media queries and meeting requests should be directed to Harris Samad: awc@awc.senate.gov