, prepares food on Thanksgiving dinner for sailors aboard the
USS Carl Vinson, 27 November 2014 Christopher Grady was born in
Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in
Newport, Rhode Island. He is a graduate of the
University of Notre Dame, and was commissioned an ensign in the
United States Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program in 1984. Grady is a distinguished graduate of
Georgetown University, where he earned a Master of Arts in National Security Studies while concurrently participating as a fellow in Foreign Service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is also a distinguished graduate of the
National War College of
National Defense University, earning a Master of Science in National Security Affairs. Grady's initial sea tour was aboard
USS Moosbrugger (DD 980), where he served as combat information center officer and anti-submarine warfare officer. As a department head, he served as weapons control officer and combat systems officer in . He was the commanding officer of Mine Counter Measure Rotational Crew Echo in , and deployed to the
Persian Gulf in command of . Grady then commanded deploying as part of NATO's Standing Naval Forces Mediterranean. He then commanded
Destroyer Squadron 22, deploying to the Persian Gulf as sea combat commander for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Ashore, Grady first served on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then as naval aide to the chief of naval operations. He also served on the staff of the chief of naval operations as assistant branch head, Europe and Eurasia Politico-Military Affairs Branch (OPNAV N524). He then served as executive assistant to the navy's Chief of Legislative Affairs. Next, he served as the deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council in the White House. He then went on to serve as the executive assistant to the chief of naval operations. Grady's flag assignments include the Director of the Maritime Operations Center (N2/3/5/7), commander, United States Pacific Fleet; Commander,
Carrier Strike Group 1 and the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group, where he deployed for nearly ten months to the Western Pacific and the Persian Gulf conducting combat operations in support of
Operation Inherent Resolve. He was then commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic. by Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin on 20 December 2021 As a vice admiral, he commanded the
United States Sixth Fleet from 28 October 2016 to 1 March 2018, relinquishing command to Vice Admiral
Lisa Franchetti. On 31 October 2017, the
United States Senate confirmed Grady's reappointment to the rank of vice admiral and assignment as the assistant to the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On 28 February 2018, Grady was nominated by President
Donald Trump for appointment to the rank of admiral and assignment as commander of
United States Fleet Forces Command, and confirmed by the Senate on 22 March 2018. He assumed command of USFFC and Naval Forces Northern Command on 4 May 2018 and of commander, Naval Forces Strategic Command (NAVSTRAT) and United States Strategic Command Joint Force Maritime Component Command (JFMCC) on 1 February 2019.
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff On 1 November 2021, he was nominated by President
Joe Biden to succeed retiring General
John E. Hyten as the
vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A nomination hearing was scheduled for 2 December 2021, but it was postponed in favor of
Senate negotiations on the 2022
NDAA. He was confirmed by voice vote on 16 December 2021,
Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff On 21 February 2025, President
Donald Trump dismissed Air Force General
C. Q. Brown, Jr. from his position as
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.{{cite news|accessdate=February 22, 2025 ==Personal life==