WASHINGTON – One of Jill Biden’s top aides for a decade who oversaw the first lady’s initiative to support military service members and their families will leave office later this month, NBC News has learned.
Rory Brosius will be succeeded as Joining Forces executive director by Sheila Casey, the wife of former Army Chief of Staff General George Casey.
“As a young military wife who entered the East Wing to intern with Joining Forces in August 2012 and joined the Biden-Harris Administration on day one to champion Joining Forces, this has been the ride of a lifetime,” she said. Brosius in a message sent to the military community with which he has worked announcing his departure.
Joining Forces was launched in 2011 by Biden and Michelle Obama, who was first lady at the time, as a way to bring the public and private sector together with members of the military, their families, and veterans, and support them with educational and employment resources. . .
Biden revived the initiative when he became first lady in 2021, naming Brosius to serve as director.
In an interview, Brosius said that while the overall mission remained the same, they were able to redouble efforts to support military families in particular, recognizing that while there are significant government resources available to service members and veterans, spouses and children of the military also have unique needs. .
It is especially important to highlight these needs at a time when the US is no longer engaged in active military conflict, as President Joe Biden removed what remained of the US military presence in Afghanistan in 2021.
“The challenges facing many military families, along with the families of veterans, are not a function of the war. They are a function of the military lifestyle,” Brosius said in the interview. “They are a function of moving every two or three years. They are a high-pace operational role, regardless of whether we are on direct combat missions or just doing seven-month deployments on a ship.”
In a statement to NBC News, Jill Biden praised Brosius for leading Joining Forces «with grace, compassion and determination to support America’s military and veteran families, caregivers and survivors.»
“Rory has done an outstanding job as CEO, doing the hard work of politics that matters. Joe and I are grateful for his dedication over the past ten years,” he said.