All Team Members

Chas Richard

Partner

Adm (R) Chas Richard completed a distinguished career of over 41 years in service to the nation. He is a career submarine officer. His final assignment was as Commander, US Strategic Command, from November 2019 to December 2022, responsible for one of 11 Unified Commands under the Department of Defense. At STRATCOM Richard was directly responsible for the global command and control of all the nation’s nuclear forces to achieve the national security objective of strategic deterrence. At STRATCOM Richard was responsible for over 150,000 people conducting strategic deterrence and nuclear operations, nuclear command and control, global strike, missile defense, electromagnetic spectrum operations, and analysis and targeting. Admiral Richard has a unique breadth and depth of operational and policy experience in undersea and strategic warfare. Prior to commanding STRATCOM, he commanded the Nation’s Submarine Force as Commander, Submarine Forces and Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic, as well as command at every level in the Submarine Force.

He currently serves as the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, focusing on research in modern strategic deterrence theory. Additionally, he serves as a Senior Mentor at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, as well as advising several defense contractors as a member of their Strategic Advisory Groups. He is on the board of directors for the United States Naval Institute, the nation’s maritime professional organization, as well as the board of visitors for the University of Alabama’s Honors College.