Brigadier General Brad Nicholson is the Senior Defense Official / Defense Attaché to Ukraine in July 2025.
BG Nicholson most recently served as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command and leads the Army Materiel Command Security Assistance Enterprise. Brigadier General Nicholson has served in a wide variety of tactical, operational, and strategic assignments in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. These include embassy postings to Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania.
He was commissioned into the Field Artillery in 1998 through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at North Carolina State University, where he studied history and English. Brigadier General Nicholson holds a Master of Policy Management from Georgetown University and is currently a Doctoral Candidate (ABD) in Political Science at the University of Utah. Brigadier General Nicholson is a foreign area officer for Sub-Saharan Africa and speaks both French and German.
His military education includes a Senior Service College Fellowship through the Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program at the School of Advanced Military Studies, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School.
His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, the Army Staff and Joint Staff Identification Badges, and the Master Parachutist Badge.