Michele Pearce

Michele Pearce is a highly skilled lawyer with over two decades of military and government service and is currently serving as the Acting General Counsel and Principal Deputy General Counsel of the US Army. She was nominated to serve as the General Counsel in April 2020 and was voted out of the Senate Armed Services Committee in May 2020. Michele is the first Hispanic-American woman to serve in these positions.

As the Chief Legal Officer of the US Army, Michele is responsible for advising the Secretary on legal matters related to management of a force of 1 million soldiers and civilians, missions conducted in 140 countries, and an annual budget of $178 billion. Specifically, she is responsible for matters including modernization of acquisition and contracting practices to address emerging threats, implementation of AI and hypersonics systems, and ethics programs as the Army’s Designated Ethics Officer.

Of particular note, Michele spearheaded the Army’s new initiative, Project Inclusion, which focuses on strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Other significant legal issues she is responsible for include the implementation of Operation Warp Speed, the federal program focused on developing and fielding a COVID-19 vaccine for the United States.

Prior to serving in the Army, Michele was appointed by General James Mattis to serve as the Deputy General Counsel (Legislation) at the Department of Defense.

Before joining the DoD, Michele was the Senior Defense Advisor to Sen. Susan Collins. In this position, she provided advice on legal and budgetary matters related to authorizations and appropriations for the DoD, DHS, and DVA. She also served as Staff Lead and Counsel for the House Committee on Armed Services, where she oversaw a multi-billion-dollar portfolio for the DoD relating to operations and maintenance activities.