22 Facts About Mira Ricardel

Mira Ricardel is a board member of Titomic, an Australian manufacturing additive company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Mira Ricardel served as Deputy National Security Advisor from May 2018 to November 2018.

Mira Ricardel was 16 years old when he survived the Bleiburg repatriations.

Mira Ricardel grew up in Pasadena, California, and at home spoke the German and Croatian languages.

Mira Ricardel's family belonged to the St Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church and attended Mass in Los Angeles.

Mira Ricardel then did doctoral coursework at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, but did not complete her degree.

From 1989 to 1996, Mira Ricardel worked as a legislative assistant to Senate Republican leader Bob Dole, drafting legislation and specializing in foreign affairs and defense policy.

Mira Ricardel made appearances in public, and her work with Dole earned her a portrayal in the nationally circulated Weekly Standard in 1995.

Mira Ricardel served as an advisor on defense and foreign policy on Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, when he won the Republican nomination but lost the general election to Bill Clinton.

Mira Ricardel served as a vice president for programming with the nonprofit organization Freedom House from 1997 to 1998 and as an independent consultant from 1998 to 2000.

From 2001 to 2003, Mira Ricardel was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Eurasia and was responsible for coalition building between the US and governments in the Caucasus, Central Asian, and Balkans regions.

From 2003 to 2005, Mira Ricardel was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy and then acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy.

Mira Ricardel was the primary adviser to the US Secretary of Defense regarding Europe, Eurasia, NATO, nuclear forces, missile defense, and arms control.

In 2015, Mira Ricardel joined Federal Budget IQ as a consultant.

Mira Ricardel was part of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential transition team as a Department of Defense advisor leading the DOD Transition Team.

Mira Ricardel was looked at for positions in the new administration in the Defense and State Departments, but was twice blocked based upon past bureaucratic run-ins, in the first instance by Secretary of Defense James Mattis and in the second by Department of State Chief of Staff Margaret Peterlin.

Mira Ricardel continued to be portrayed in the media as a tough bureaucratic opponent.

On November 13,2018, a statement made by First Lady Melania Trump spokesperson publicly called for Mira Ricardel's firing following a dispute over personnel presence on the plane for the First Lady's visit to Africa.

Since November 2019, Mira Ricardel has served as Principal of The Chertoff Group, a security consulting firm founded by former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Chad Sweet.

In July 2005, Mira Ricardel was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Mira Ricardel has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1999.

Mira Ricardel was one of the youngest professionals ever inducted and was nominated by former ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick.