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- Colby Jenkins, former Utah congressional candidate, is now assistant secretary of defense.
- Jenkins will advise on special operations and low intensity conflicts under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- Previously, Jenkins worked for Elon Musk's America PAC and served as a Green Beret.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Colby Jenkins has landed a spot in the Trump administration, serving as the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict
"I began this morning entering the Pentagon with the first group of the new Pentagon team," Jenkins said in a post on Facebook on Jan. 20. "We took our oath immediately after President Trump took his ... and then we got to work!"
The role requires him to advise newly sworn in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on small-scale conflicts and conduct policy oversight on all special operations, which include activities related to counterterrorism, counterproliferation and foreign internal defense.
He was originally appointed as the deputy assistant secretary for irregular warfare and counterterrorism, but his title was later changed.
The new year marks a comeback for the Utah native, who lost a tight race against Rep. Celeste Maloy last year in the 2nd Congressional District by just 176 votes.
2024 congressional race recap
At the time, Jenkins filed two lawsuits, alleging unfair treatment by county election officials who either denied voter information to his campaign or who discarded ballots that were postmarked late by the U.S. Postal Service.
After accepting defeat, Jenkins reportedly worked for Elon Musk's America PAC, which spent more than $152 million on the presidential race, Jenkins' former campaign manager confirmed to the Deseret News.
Musk made several donations to Jenkins after he received an endorsement from Sen. Mike Lee, including $16,000 to his victory fund to help him fight the lawsuits and $6,600 to his campaign, according to Musk's filing with the Federal Election Commission.
Jenkins' background
Born and raised in Roosevelt in eastern Utah, Jenkins attend West Point before becoming an airborne Ranger-qualified infantry officer. He tried out and got selected to become a member of the Green Berets.
Jenkins' biography on the Defense Department's website notes he led "his Special Forces A-team on multiple global deployments, including combat in Afghanistan and later various training, counter-drug, and hostage rescue operations throughout South America, including the jungles of Colombia."
He also worked as a Green Beret liaison to Congress and was a counterterrorism policy adviser to the Defense secretary.
After active duty, he joined the Army Reserves and worked as a legislative adviser while teaching at George Washington University. Jenkins then moved to the tech industry, working for Google and other companies in Silicon Valley and southern Utah.
