Colin Carroll is a decorated combat veteran and national security expert. He attended Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Maryland, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy (2004-2007), followed by a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service (2012-2014). Commissioned as a Ground Intelligence Officer in the United States Marine Corps, he served six years on active duty, leading a Reconnaissance Platoon and Company in 2d Reconnaissance Battalion, and as staff intelligence officer for 2d Battalion, 9th Marines. He deployed to Afghanistan four times during Operation Enduring Freedom, including operations in Helmand Province. After active duty, Carroll joined the Department of Defense as a federal civilian, working five years on intelligence and information problems in the Pacific theater. In 2017, he became a founding member of Project Maven, serving as Deputy for Engineering and Integration. He then served as technical project manager for the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center's (JAIC) Smart Sensor program at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. In 2020, he returned to federal service as a High Quality Expert and JAIC's inaugural Chief Operations Officer. Carroll worked at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as a National Security Fellow (2014-2015). From around 2022, he led the Federal and Defense Business at Applied Intuition, also serving as Head of Government and Director of Government Relations. He later joined Anduril Industries as Senior Director of Strategic Growth, a defense tech firm. In early 2025, under the Trump-Vance administration, he served as Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg. In April 2025, Carroll was placed on administrative leave and subsequently fired amid a Pentagon investigation into leaks of classified information, including matters related to the Panama Canal, Red Sea operations, Elon Musk's briefing, and Ukraine intelligence. He issued a joint statement with Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick denying wrongdoing and criticizing the probe as baseless.