ALUMNI In Service TO OUR COUNTRY

ELIZABETH “LIZ” CAIN ‘92

“After graduating from Waldron Mercy, I attended the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur. During my sophomore year I took a government class, where I studied the Constitution. I concluded that the United States’ Constitution afforded us the best possible place to live in the world. I knew we were not perfect, but our great experiment was worth defending. Despite all our trials and tribulations, that remains the reason I serve – the great privilege to live my oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I was expressing an interest in the Army since the age of nine, without much support from the people around me –they thought it was a phase. I joined ROTC in college my first year and that was it for me. To get to this point was challenging, but wow, has it taken me places, and afforded me the opportunity to live an amazing life.”

In May of 2000, Colonel Elizabeth M. Cain graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, PA with a dual degree in English and Government and Law. Following graduation from college, she was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Military Police Corps.

Elizabeth “Liz” Cain has had a very interesting career during her 22 years with the US Army. This mother of 6-year-old twins, Ronan and Rory and stepmom to Max, Eva, and Aaron, serves on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, at the Pentagon, and in January was promoted to Colonel in the US Army.

Her assignments over the years included serving at home and abroad. In 2007 to 2008 Liz served as the Company Commander of the 59th Military Police Company at al-Mada’in Qada, Iraq, where she led a company of 230 personnel and managed equipment valued at more than $30M. She supervised all operations and oversaw the Police Transition Team who supported Iraqi Police Stations in al-Mada’in. Liz conducted combat operations in conjunction with Iraqi Security Force counterparts and directed a team of subordinates through strenuous combat conditions east of Baghdad for 15 months. Here she diligently synchronized the efforts of the Iraqi Police leaders with Iraqi and US Army senior management and developed and implemented a training academy for a newly established Iraqi Police Emergency Response Unit.

Currently, she serves on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in the J39 as an action officer within the Special Technical Operations Division. She also serves a collateral duty preparing General and Flag Officers to testify to Congress.

Liz also holds Master of Arts degrees in Business and Organizational Security Management from Webster University, in Public Policy Management from the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the National War College. She is a graduate of the National War College Class of 2021 and the FBI National Academy, Class 257.

Liz has been selected to serve as the Brigade Commander of the Soldier Readiness Brigade with Battalions at Walter Reed Medical Center and Fort Belvoir, VA. She and her husband Mike, along with Ronan and Rory, are residents of Arlington, Virginia.