Walter Becker Slocombe is a former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all matters...

 (1994–2001) and was the Senior Advisor for Security and Defence to the Coalition Provisional Authority

Coalition Provisional Authority

The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...

 in Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 (2003).

A lawyer and career federal official, Slocombe joined the staff of the National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

 in 1969. Prior to that, he worked as a law clerk

Law clerk

A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...

 for Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas

Abe Fortas

Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...

. He is a four-time recipient of an award for Distinguished Public Service and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...

. He currently practices law with the Washington firm of Caplin & Drysdale

Caplin & Drysdale

Founded by Mortimer Caplin, Commissioner of Internal Revenue under John F. Kennedy , Caplin & Drysdale is a boutique law firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York .-History:...

.

Education

Slocombe received a B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 in 1963, where he received the Moses Taylor Pyne

Moses Taylor Pyne

Moses Taylor Pyne , was a financier and philanthropist, and one of Princeton University's greatest benefactors and most influential Trustees....

 Honor Prize, the highest general distinction conferred on an undergraduate. Slocombe was also a Rhodes scholar, studying at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 from 1963-1965. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 in 1968 and was admitted to the bar in 1970.

U.S. Government service

• Committee on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction
  Weapons of mass destruction
  A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
  
   (2004)
• Senior advisor for the Coalition Provisional Authority
  Coalition Provisional Authority
  The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
  
   (2003)
• Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
  Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
  The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all matters...
  
   (1994-2001)
• Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (1979-1981), (1993-1994)
• Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs (1977-1979)