Rand Beers (born November 30, 1942) is an American government official. He served as Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President of the United States during the Barack Obama administration. He also served as acting Secretary of Homeland Security following the resignation of Secretary Janet Napolitano on September 6, 2013 until Jeh Johnson assumed that office on December 23, 2013. Early career Beers began his professional career as a Marine officer and rifle company commander in Vietnam (1964–1968). He entered the Foreign Service in 1971 and transferred to the Civil Service in 1983. He served most of his career in the Department of State, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Affairs in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, focusing on the Middle East and Persian Gulf (1992–1993). He was Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (1998–2002). Beers also served on the NSC Staff in the following capacies: Director for Counter-terrorism and Counter-narcotics (1988–1992), Director for Peacekeeping (1993–1995), and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs (1995–1998), and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism on the NSC Staff (2002–2003). He resigned from the NSC Staff in March 2003, retired from government service in April 2003, and served as national security advisor for the Kerry-Edwards campaign (2003–2004). John McCain controversy Beers stirred up controversy with remarks he made at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress in June 2008. The event, dubbed "McCain University," was a comprehensive effort to illustrate John McCain's policy proposals in the context of the 2008 Presidential Election. During the question and answer portion of the event, Beers noted that "his [John McCain's] national security experience [...] is sadly limited" due to the fact that "he was in isolation essentially for many of those years and did not experience the turmoil here or the challenges that were involved for those of us who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam war." McCain, a captured U.S. Navy aviator, was a prisoner of war of the North Vietnamese government for several years, and was repeatedly tortured. Beers's comments elicited widespread criticism from conservative observers such as Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove, as well as a variety of right-wing blogs. Homeland Security career As Under Secretary, Beers directed the Department's efforts to reduce risks to physical, cyber and communications infrastructures. NPPD collaborates with all