The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced that James Hursch will retire as director after 39 years of civil service.
Michael F. Miller, the agency’s incumbent deputy director, will temporarily fill the vacant position.
Hursh, who continues the foreign arms sales office’s trend of preferring civilian leaders, held the DSCA directorship beginning January 2, 2022. During his term, he steered the agency through challenging events happening across the globe, including the Ukraine-Russia war and the latest war between Israel and Hamas.
Before the DSCA director role, he served as acting secretary of defense representative in Europe and acting defense adviser for the U.S. Mission to NATO. Both roles saw him leading efforts to formulate, coordinate and present policies to the United States’s envoy to the 32-country military alliance.
Prior to his stint at NATO, he worked as director of the Defense Technology Security Administration and special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
Hursch, a 2024 Wash100 winner, was a faculty member at the Institute of Higher Defense Studies at the National Defense University, specializing in defense economics and international relations. He is also a contributor to the book “Theories of International Relations.”