(The Center Square) – Presidential 911 calls, the adage goes, are made to home of the U.S. Army Special Forces and 82nd Airborne in North Carolina.
The call to lead the Army has gone to a native North Carolinian, too. Dan Driscoll, veteran of deployment to Iraq in 2009, is the nomination for secretary of the Army by President-elect Donald Trump. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the 38-year-old would succeed Christine Wormuth.
He’s one of two key picks announced Wednesday tied to the state. Michael Whatley, hailed as overwhelmingly successful leading the Republican National Convention, agreed to remain in the post.
“Dan brings a powerful combination of experiences to serve as a disruptor and change agent,” Trump said in a release.
Driscoll would lead the nation’s largest military branch, carrying responsibility for more than 1 million soldiers.
The Boone native earned his undergrad at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in three years. He completed Army Ranger School, deployed with the 10th Mountain Division out Fort Drum in New York to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and earned his law degree from Yale on the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
It was on the New Haven, Conn., Ivy League campus where he met J.D. Vance. He’s since served as senior advisor to the U.S. senator from Ohio and vice president-elect.
In business, Driscoll worked in venture capital and private equity.
“Dan will be a fearless and relentless fighter for America’s soldiers and the America First agenda,” Trump said.
Driscoll is familiar to the mountain counties and politics. He was sixth of 12 in the 2020 Republican primary seeking the 11th Congressional District seat. Madison Cawthorn, second to Lynda Bennett in that primary, won the runoff and the general election.
Whatley, 56, is the former chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. When first chosen in March to succeed Ronna McDaniel, he said, “We are already well on our way to making Joe Biden a one-term president, and I look forward to working with every Republican to deliver victories up and down the ballot!”
He delivered in many places, none larger than the federal trifecta – Trump in the White House, the U.S. Senate flipped to a 53-47 majority for Republicans, and the U.S. House stayed with the GOP 220-215.
On social media, Whatley wrote, “As long as I am chairman, the RNC’s priorities will remain the same: get out the vote, protect the ballot, and raise the money we need to elect Republicans up and down the ticket. That’s the strategy which helped reelect President Trump, flip the Senate and protect our House majority.
“We have crucial fights ahead, from supporting President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and preparing for the 2026 midterms, to our ongoing fight for election integrity across America.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Whatley has been a strong leader. U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said on social media he was looking forward to Whatley helping lead 2026 midterm wins.