Maura Sullivan, who was assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, is moving to the Pentagon for a PA job.

maura sullivanA former Marine Corps captain and Iraq War veteran, Sullivan will succeed Brent Colburn when he steps down next month.

Most recently, Sullivan worked at PepsiCo managing the Frito Lay business and Pepsi bottling operations in New England.

Sullivan, who is a Harvard Business School and Kennedy School graduate, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2005 with a combat logistics battalion. While stationed in Okinawa, she participated in military exercises in southeast Asia.

President Obama appointed Sullivan to the American Battle Monuments Commission. In that capacity, she visited 21 of the 25 overseas American military cemeteries.

DOD Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement that Sullivan is "a true talent, and the experience she has gained from the battlefield to the boardroom will make her an invaluable member of my team."