Ms. Caroline Baxter is a Senior Advisor at the Center for Climate and Security. From 2021 to 2024, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, in which capacity she served as the principal senior authority on the development of DoD policy on all issues relating to military education, training, and exercises across the Joint Force.

Among other responsibilities, she led DoD’s Climate Literacy Sub-Working Group (CLSWG) that reported to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Under Ms. Baxter’s leadership, the CLSWG devised a path-breaking methodology to baseline and grow mission-centric knowledge of climate change through tailoring information to job functions and roles, thereby driving a climate-informed approach to securing DoD’s operational resilience. Ms. Baxter also spearheaded the creation of the DoD Climate Resilience Portal, the first-ever online resource to provide relevant climate change data and information to the Total Force. 

Previously, Ms. Baxter spent over a decade conducting research on operational strategy, military doctrine and readiness, and defense acquisition at the RAND Corporation. Her work included an analysis of the potential impact of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” an examination of Army operational roles in the Pacific, and construction of a war game for senior U.S. and allied military officers to test operational concepts. In addition to her recent political appointment, Ms. Baxter has been detailed to DoD twice – first to the Air Staff, and then to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, where she served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary.

Ms. Baxter holds a B.A. with honors in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and an M.A. in International Security Policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.