Veronica Valdez was sworn in as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs on January 20, 2021. Prior to rejoining the Department of Defense, Valdez was the policy advisor to the Commission President at the Port of Seattle. During her last time at the Pentagon, Valdez served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Air Force and policy advisor. She also served as the Secretary of the Navy as an Asia-Pacific policy advisor. Valdez is Filipino and grew up in Sydney Australia. She studied Mandarin at Peking University.