Rand Beers

Rand Beers is a retired senior civil servant with 35 years of government service. He began his career as a Marine officer and rifle company commander in Vietnam (1964-1968). He entered the Foreign Service in 1971 serving both in Washington and overseas. He transferred to the Civil Service in 1983, while serving in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs at the Department of State as a Deputy Office Director and Office Director covering regional political-military problems with a focus on the Middle East and Persian Gulf. He served in four different positions on the NSC Staff at the White House during four different Administrations (1988-1998 and 2002-2003). His functions included counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, intelligence policy, and peacekeeping. He was also Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (1998-2002). His final government position was as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism on the NSC Staff. He resigned from that position in March 2003 and retired the following month. He began work for the John Kerry for President campaign in May 2003 and the National Security and Homeland Security Issue Coordinator.