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John Daniel " Raizin" Caine (born 10 August 1968) is an American general and venture capitalist who is serving as the 22nd chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2025. He served as the associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2021 to 2024.
Caine was commissioned in the United States Air Force upon graduation from the Virginia Military Institute in 1990 and has served in various roles within the Air Force, mainly as an F-16 pilot. As of 2025, Caine has 2,800 flight hours and served two tours in Iraq. He was the assistant commanding general of Joint Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2018, a deputy commanding general for the Operation Inherent Resolve special operations task force from 2018 to 2019, and the director of special-access programs in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment from 2019 to 2021. He retired in 2024.
In February 2025, President Donald Trump named Caine as his nominee as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Caine was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April. He is the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who never served at the rank of four-star general or admiral before being nominated. Furthermore, Caine is the first to be nominated while in retirement, and the first to have been nominated as a member of a reserve component.
After his graduation from the USAF Weapons School he returned to his previous role with the 121st Fighter Squadron. Caine was among the pilots who protected Washington, D.C., in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks as the chief of weapons and tactics for the squadron. From November 2001 to February 2002 he was the chief of group weapons and tactics for the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing in Kuwait and until January 2003 he was a counter-SCUD project officer for U.S. Central Command, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Caine developed a plan to counter possessed by forces. Caine was the chief of weapons and tactics for the 410th Air Expeditionary Wing until May 2003, when he was assigned to the Test Center at the Tucson Air National Guard Base, Arizona, as its head of operations. He held that position until August 2005, and in 2004 he completed the Air Command and Staff College by correspondence. Starting in 2005 he worked at the White House, and from October 2006 to January 2008 Caine was the policy director for counterterrorism and strategy at the Homeland Security Council. From January to July 2008 he was back in Iraq as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Air Directorate.
In July 2008, he became an instructor pilot at the 121st Fighter Squadron and a Special Tactics Air Liaison Officer at the 24th Special Tactics Squadron of the Air Force Special Operations Command, remaining in those roles until 2010. Caine was a part-time member of the Air National Guard from 2009 to 2016 and held several senior positions in the District of Columbia ANG.
After returning to active duty, he was simultaneously an assistant to the vice commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command and the assistant commanding general of the Joint Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2018. Caine completed the Joint and Combined Warfighting Course in 2017. He simultaneously served as a deputy commanding general of Special Operations Command Central and of the special operations joint task force in Operation Inherent Resolve, the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, from 2018 to 2019. After that Caine was the director of special-access programs in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment from 2019 to 2021. Caine achieved the rank of lieutenant general in 2021, and served as the CIA's associate director for military affairs from November 2021 until December 2024. He earned the nickname "Raizin Caine".
As of February 2025, Caine has 150 combat hours and two tours in Iraq. He has a total of 2,800 flight hours, including more than 100 combat hours in the F-16.
In 2010 he founded The Caine Group, an investment and consulting firm focusing on national security and homeland security.
His LinkedIn page notes that he has advised Voyager, a space technology company. In January 2025, he joined Shield Capital, a venture capital firm. Caine is a partner at Ribbit Capital and an advisor for Thrive Capital. He was the co-founder and chief operating officer of Rise Air, an airline company acquired by Surf Air in 2017 and not to be confused with 100% Native-owned Rise Air in Saskatchewan. His Air Force service biography describes him as a "serial entrepreneur and investor".
According to The New York Times, Caine met with Trump and vice president J.D. Vance during the week prior to the announcement of the nomination. The Times later reported that Caine was considered for the position over Michael Kurilla, the commander of United States Central Command. Title 10 of the United States Code requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be selected from the officers of the regular components of the armed forces and only if the officer had served as a combatant, unified, or specified commander, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or, if the officer had served as the highest uniformed officer in one of the six military service branches (although that requirement may be waived if "necessary in the national interest").
Caine's nomination was sent to the Senate on 10 March. He testified before the Senate Committee on Armed Services on 1 April. The committee voted to advance his nomination 23–4 on 8 April. Caine was confirmed on 11 April in a 60–25 vote. He was promoted to a four-star general prior to the vote. Caine was sworn in on 14 April. He is the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who never served at the rank of four-star general or four-star admiral before assuming the position and the first to have been retired at the time of confirmation. Caine is the second retired general to serve as chairman after Maxwell Taylor in 1962, although Taylor had been recalled to active duty the year prior to his appointment (after he had retired in 1959). Caine is the first chairman since Hugh Shelton in 1997 who never served within the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is the first Air National Guardsman to become chairman.
Leading up to the Iran–Israel war, Caine and John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, gave an assessment to Trump on Israel's imminent attack on Iran from Camp David.
Caine, with Michael Kurilla, the commander of United States Central Command, led plans for the U.S. military to strike at Iranian nuclear sites in 2025. He appeared with secretary of defense Pete Hegseth to provide details on the strike the following day. Caine's muted description of the strikes contrasted with Hegseth's assertion that mirrored Trump's description that the strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear sites. At a second press conference with Hegseth days later, Caine focused on the service members responsible for the strike, which was interpreted as seeking to avoid politicizing the military while serving Trump's interests. According to The Wall Street Journal, the strikes, in addition to his follow-up comments, helped earn Caine the trust of Trump.
Following the January 3, 2026 US strikes in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Caine appeared alongside President Trump and other senior officials in a press conference to report on the operation.
During the Greenland crisis Donald Trump asked Caine to present potential options and the impacts of using military force to invade and annex Greenland, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, ultimately resulting in Trump deciding against an invasion.
| Command Pilot Badge | |||||
| Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge | Presidential Service Badge | Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge | |||
| Air Force Distinguished Service Medal | Defense Superior Service Medal | ||||
| Distinguished Flying Cross | Bronze Star Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster | Defense Meritorious Service Medal | |||
| Meritorious Service Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster | Air Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster | Aerial Achievement Medal | |||
| Air and Space Commendation Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters | Joint Service Achievement Medal | Air and Space Achievement Medal | |||
| Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award with three bronze oak leaf clusters and "V" device | Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award | Combat Readiness Medal | |||
| National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star | Iraq Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars | Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal | |||
| Global War on Terrorism Service Medal | Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold frame | Air and Space Longevity Service Award (9 awards) | |||
| Air and Space Longevity Service Award (10th award) | Armed Forces Reserve Medal with silver hourglass and "M" device | Air and Space Training Ribbon | |||
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