John Kreul serves as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSDP) and leads the Policy Management and Operations (PMO) organization.  

Mr. Kreul is a career civilian with over 20 years of experience in OUSDP, the National Security Council staff, and the Department of State. Prior to his assignment as COO, Mr. Kreul served as Policy’s Principal Director for Homeland Defense Integration and Defense Support of Civil Authorities (HDI&DSCA) from August 2021 to August 2023, and Principal Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2014 to 2021, serving as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in both offices.  His career in Policy also includes assignments as chief of staff and senior advisor for regional strategy and plans for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, lead of the Under Secretary’s Human Capital Strategy Team, director of the Coalition Affairs office, director of the Afghanistan office, and service in the Strategy, Policy Planning, and Iranian Affairs offices. 

Mr. Kreul completed an assignment as a director in the National Security Council’s defense policy and strategy directorate from 2009-2011 and attended the National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces from 2007-2008. 

Before coming to the Department of Defense, Mr. Kreul worked at the Department of State's Nonproliferation Bureau. While at State, he completed details to the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels in 2001 and to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad in 2003. 

Prior to joining the government, Mr. Kreul worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Association of the U.S. Army. He attended Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service as an undergrad and the London School of Economics for his masters.