Craig Mullaney

Craig M. Mullaney (born c. 1978) is a United States Army veteran and the author of The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education (Penguin Press). He was Senior Vice President of Content, Strategy and Operations at Ustream from 2011 to 2013. He also served as Senior Policy Advisor working for the United States Agency for International Development.

Early life, education and family
Raised in a blue-collar family in Rhode Island, Mullaney was the Bishop Hendricken High School valedictorian and was selected for nomination to the U.S. Military Academy in 1996. While a cadet, Mullaney double-majored in French and History, served as the cadet brigade operations officer in his senior year, and completed over 400 jumps as a nationally ranked member of West Point's sport-parachute team. He graduated second in the West Point Class of 2000.

Mullaney attended Lincoln College at the University of Oxford from 2000 to 2002 as a Rhodes Scholar. He earned a Master of Science degree in Economic and Diplomatic History and a Master of Studies degree in Historical Research. During this time he traveled to over thirty countries.

Mullaney is married to Dr. Meena Seshamani, M.D., Ph.D., formerly an otolaryngology resident physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a published health economist and currently Deputy Director in the Office of Health Reform in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. They met at Oxford where Dr. Seshamani was a Ph.D. Marshall Scholar and he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Military career
Prior to arriving at Oxford, Mullaney completed Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, a grueling nine-week course designed to test small-unit leadership by simulating combat stress through strenuous tactical exercises. When Mullaney returned to the United States in 2002, he completed additional infantry training and joined the 10th Mountain Division, which had recently returned from Afghanistan. In 2003, Mullaney served as an infantry officer with the 10th Mountain Division as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, where he led a rifle platoon along the hostile border with Pakistan. His platoon operated along the entire spectrum of combat operations—from humanitarian assistance to full-scale combined arms against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. Mullaney's platoon was the most decorated in Afghanistan during its tour and was commended in person by General Richard Myers, General John Abizaid, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Mullaney was recognized with the Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal for Valor, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

After his tour in Afghanistan, Mullaney served in the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), in Arlington, Virginia. At this elite ceremonial unit, he planned portions of the 2005 Presidential Inauguration, marched in reviews for foreign dignitaries, and managed a team of Pentagon-funded software engineers developing management software for small units in the Army.

In the summer of 2005, Mullaney joined the faculty of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as a history professor and Army Exchange Officer. He designed and taught an undergraduate course on the history of the U.S. Navy and American foreign policy. Mullaney left the Army in the summer of 2008 upon completion of his tour at the Naval Academy.

Public service
Mullaney was on the national security staff of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Defense Transition Team under co-chairs Michele Flournoy and Dr. John P. White. He worked as the Principal Director for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia for the Department of Defense from May 2009 to April 2010. In April 2010, he was appointed as a senior advisor on Afghanistan and Pakistan issues to the United States Agency for International Development.

Author
Mullaney wrote The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education, an autobiographical look at preparing for the responsibility of leading men in combat and the hard-won lessons of that experience. In advance of its publication on February 19, 2009, it received critical praise from an array of leading political and military figures. Since publication it has received favorable reviews from publications including The New York Times. Times reviewer Janet Maslin noted the "searing detail" of the Afghanistan combat description, and concluded that the memoir's "impact" comes from its account of "the inner journey of a man who is at first eager to learn as much as he can from service and scholarship. Later on he learns from his mistakes."