Nominee for Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll speaks Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. ((Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes))

WASHINGTON — Dan Driscoll, an Army veteran and businessman, told senators Thursday that he would serve as the soldiers’ secretary of the Army, “not of the generals or of the bureaucracy,” if he is confirmed as President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the largest military service.

Driscoll, 38, said his experience as a third-generation soldier has prepared him to lead more than a million soldiers and civilians and he intends to use that personal insight to boost recruiting, modernize the Army and effectively oversee its $200 billion budget.

“My sacred duty to our Army is to ensure our soldiers have the world’s finest training, equipment and leadership to accomplish any mission,” he said in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

One of those missions is securing the U.S. border with Mexico, where Trump is deploying hundreds of service members as part of an effort to make border security a top priority of the Defense Department.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee, said he was worried the surge of troops will harm the Army’s readiness, taking time away from training for war.

Service members stationed at the border are typically tasked with conducting vehicle maintenance, light construction, transportation and observation and detection from the ground and air.

“This is a role for the Department of Homeland Security,” Reed said.

But Driscoll said the Army could balance multiple priorities, pointing to the steady presence of soldiers at the border for years.

“I think the Army stands ready to execute on any mission for the president of the United States and the secretary of defense, up to and including helping secure our border,” he said.

He promised to “always follow the law” after several Democratic senators raised concerns that the Army will be forced into domestic law enforcement roles under the Trump administration.

“I reject the premise that the president or secretary of defense would ask for an order” that contravened the Constitution, he said.

Driscoll otherwise developed a friendly rapport with the committee and appeared to earn the support of Republicans and Democrats. The committee will vote on his nomination before the full Senate decides whether to confirm him.

Nominee for Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll hugs Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, before Driscoll’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Trump has touted Driscoll as a “disrupter and change agent,” much like recently confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the committee, said Driscoll’s Army service, legal background and financial experience have prepared him to handle “the myriad responsibilities of Army secretary.”

Driscoll graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in three years so he could join the Army in 2007 and follow in the footsteps of his father, who served in Vietnam, and his grandfather, who was a decoder during World War II.

He completed the Army Ranger School, served as an armor officer and deployed to Iraq in 2009 with the 10th Mountain Division as a calvary scout. His military awards include the Army Commendation Medal and the combat action badge.

Driscoll left service in 2010 at the rank of first lieutenant and then used the post-9/11 G.I. Bill to attend Yale Law School, where he met Vice President JD Vance. He went on to serve as a senior adviser to Vance and worked at several investment banking and consulting firms in North Carolina.

Driscoll told senators Thursday that he is committed to telling the “rich history” of the Army as it celebrates its 250th anniversary this year. He said a compelling story extolling the value of military service will encourage more young people to join.

“This is the year to tell the story of the women and men in uniform who have done amazing things on behalf of our country and who I think would say, like me, have had their lives changed by this experience,” Driscoll said.

The Army has struggled in recent years to meet its recruiting goals, in large part because young Americans are either unwilling or unqualified to serve. The Army was able to meet its recruiting goal of 55,000 new enlistees in fiscal 2024 after lowering enlistment targets.

“The best analogy I’ve heard is the Army threw the dart at the dartboard and then drew the bullseye around it,” Driscoll said.

He said the Future Soldier Prep Course, a program that helps lower-performing recruits meet fitness and academic standards, has had a positive impact on enlistment and he would look to see if it can be “scaled even further.”

Driscoll said he also will be focused on reinvigorating the defense industrial base and investing in new weapons and technologies to ensure the Army is able to operate in “new, complex and contested environments.”

But soldiers and their well-being will be the chief priority, Driscoll said. He said his 8-year-old son is planning on joining the Army and he has been nudging his 6-year-old daughter also to consider enlistment.

He vowed to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that he would dedicate the time, energy and resources to ensure the service is particularly welcoming to women.

“I want [my daughter] to join an Army where the sky’s the limit, the standards of excellence are hard but she is able to achieve them and she faces absolutely zero instances of sexual harassment during her time in,” he said.