Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl (born January 19, 1964) is a Swiss-American businessman and former government official, having held the position of Counselor of the United States Department of State from May 1, 2018, to January 20, 2021. He was appointed by and reported to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and replaced Maliz E. Beams. Along with the role of Counselor, he served as the Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the Department of State from March to September 2020. Early life and education Brechbuhl was born in Switzerland and grew up in Garden City, New York. He attended the Waldorf School of Garden City through 12th grade, serving as president of the student council his senior year. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986. His college yearbook describes him as a "hardworking and disciplined" student, a member of the Chapel Choir, Scoutmaster's Council, French Club, and the Lacrosse team. He was a classmate of Brian Bulatao and Mike Pompeo and later helped Pompeo found Thayer Aerospace. After leaving military service he completed his Master of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in 1994. Career Following his graduation from West Point, Brechbuhl was stationed in Europe as an officer with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and during the Persian Gulf War he served with the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry in the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division. After graduating from the Harvard Business School, he worked for Bain and Company, Inc., from 1993 until 1998. Brechbuhl joined Pompeo and two other college friends in founding Thayer Aerospace, which was partly funded by Wichita's Koch Venture Capital, Cardinal Investment Co. and Bain & Co. He served as CFO. Following his role as President and CEO of Migratec, Brechbuhl served as Chief Executive Officer of Chamberlin Edmonds and Associates Inc., a subsidiary of Emdeon, from 2004 until 2014. Before becoming Counselor, Brechbuhl was president of Appenzeller Point, LLC. Prior to that, he was executive chairman of Avadyne Health. State Department In his role as Counselor, Brechbuhl was chartered with offering strategic guidance on foreign policy, enhancing U.S. diplomacy and conducting "special diplomatic assignments as directed by the Secretary". Brechbuhl's initial focus was to accelerate hiring to fill the many unfilled positions in the department. He was delegated "sweeping control over the nomination process, drawing up lists of candidates for jobs and purging those" likely