Ms. Julia Sokol serves as the Executive Director for the Office of Information Operations Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy. She is responsible for developing policies, partnerships, plans, and implementation guidance related to Department of Defense operations in the information environment. She has served in this position since December 2023.

Ms. Sokol is a career civilian of the Senior Executive Service with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. She most recently served as the Principal Director for Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism in OSD(Policy) from July 2021 to December 2023. She previously served as Director for Levant and Gulf policy in Middle East policy in which she was responsible for the defense partnerships and policies related to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Ms. Sokol has held a number of other positions in the Department, including Chief of Staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, strategist for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman’s Action Group, as well as Country Director for Pakistan, the Balkans, and NATO.

Ms. Sokol is a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College and the recipient of the Secretary of Defense Award for Meritorious Civilian Service. Hailing from Washington State, she now lives in Alexandria with her husband and daughter.