General Dan Caine
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
John Daniel Caine was born in August 1968 in Elmira, New York. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute and was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Air Force ROTC. He completed the Euro-NATO Jet Pilot Training Program and joined the New York Air National Guard in Syracuse. He availed himself of educational opportunities in the military, and later earned a master’s degree in air warfare from the American Military University.
Caine flew F-16s with various squadrons and became an instructor pilot and chief of weapons. He was among the pilots who protected Washington, D.C., after the attacks on September 11, 2001. Caine developed counter weapons and tactics and became head of operations at an Air National Guard Base test center in Tucson, Arizona. He later served in the White House Homeland Security Council. He then commanded the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Air Directorate in Iraq.
Caine also pursued entrepreneurial and investment opportunities during stints as a part-time Air National Guard member. He served as a special assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture during the response to Hurricane Katrina. He also served the Homeland Security Council as a policy director for counterterrorism. Caine co-founded a regional airline.
Caine was nominated to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Donald Trump in March 2025. He was confirmed by the Senate, and assumed his position in April.
General Caine is a command pilot with more than 2,800 flying hours, including 100 combat hours in the F-16.
In the News…
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine commended the National Guard at the 147th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference in Milwaukee last month. Over 40,000 members of the National Guard serve domestically and abroad. Two thousand guardsmen have supported the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, Joint Task Force District of Columbia.
“When you mobilize the guard, you mobilize the nation,” General Caine said. “Rooted in all of our history is the guard. From 1636 to 2036 and beyond, the guard will always be there.”
Highlighting his own service in the National Guard, the general said, “The guard has given me far more than I could ever give back. I’m gifted to have this incredible vantage point of seeing what the guard does for the nation, not only overseas but right here at home.”
