Gary A. Ashworth

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Mr. Gary Ashworth, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, currently Performing the Duties of Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (ASD(A)). In this position, he advises the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD(A&S)), the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Defense on matters relating to the Department of Defense (DoD) Acquisition System, acquisition program management, and the development of strategic, space, intelligence, tactical warfare, command and control, and business systems.

Previously, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (PDASD(A)). Additionally, Mr. Ashworth served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) Strategic, Space, and Intelligence Portfolio Management (SSIPM). In this role, he was responsible for acquisition shaping, analysis, and oversight of warfighter capability portfolios across the Department of Defense (DoD) associated with nuclear weapons systems; nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3); space; missile defense; and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) domains.

Mr. Ashworth has been involved in all phases of DoD acquisition, sustainment, research, development, and engineering since joining the defense acquisition workforce in 1992. His prior OSD duties included Director, Space and Missile Defense and Nuclear Weapons Systems Acquisition Lead for the OUSD(A&S). He also served as a Major Defense Acquisition Program Support Team Lead for OUSD (Research and Engineering) where he provided systems engineering support to and led independent technical risk assessments on more than sixty major defense acquisition and information system programs in the nuclear weapon system, NC3, and C4ISR domains.

Mr. Ashworth served the Air Force in uniform for more than 20 years. His final assignment was serving as a Squadron Commander of an acquisition squadron and Program Manager for several C4ISR programs. His operational assignments include serving as a Nuclear War Plan Advisor and Command and Control Exercise Planner for U.S. Strategic Command, as well as a Missile Combat Crew Commander for the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile weapon system.

Mr. Ashworth holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, a master’s degree in Military Operational Art and Science from Air University. He also most recently obtained a M.S. in Cybersecurity from Johns Hopkins University. He is a Level III certified Program Manager and Systems Engineer and has attended the National Security Leader Seminar at the Syracuse University and the Leadership for a Democratic Society Course at Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia.