Chris Mayer is an independent consultant on national security issues and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Stability Operations Association.
From 2009 to 2019, Chris was the Director of Armed Contingency Contractor Policy and Programs for the Department of Defense, responsible for the Department’s policies and regulations regarding private security companies and for coordinating interagency and international efforts regarding regulation and oversight of armed private security services. This included being the project manager for developing national and international standards for private security operations and serving on the U.S. government’s negotiation team for the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers and the association charged with implementing that Code. He also advised combatant commands on the proper use and management of armed contractors.
Prior to his retirement as a colonel in the U.S. Army, Chris represented the United States in the negotiation of the Montreux Document, the international framework defining the international legal obligations and recommended good practices for States regarding private military and security companies. Col. Mayer’s other experience in combat, post-combat reconstruction, and humanitarian operations include service as Senior U.S. Military Observer and Chief of Civil Military Coordination for the UN Mission in Liberia; Chief of Staff, Defense Reconstruction Support Office — coordinating Department of Defense level support to post-conflict operations; Chief of Staff, Program Management Office, Coalition Provisional Authority — responsible for the strategic reconstruction of Iraq; and other assignments in civil-military operations, reconnaissance (cavalry), armor, army futures, disaster relief, and emergency management in the United States, Europe, and Southwest Asia.
Col. Mayer is a graduate of the Army War College and the Air War College. He also served as an instructor for the US Army Command and General Staff College, and Adjunct Faculty for the Naval War College. He was a frequent guest lecturer on rules for the use of force and rules on engagement at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo, Italy and has been a guest lecturer at other international institutes and universities on recent developments in conflict and post-conflict operations.