Serve as senior political appointee in the office of the Air Force Comptroller. In this role I provide leadership on all matters pertaining to the Department of the Air Force (DAF) budget. I provide advice to the acting Assistant Secretary, the Under Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of the Air Force on budget and Comptroller issues.

As the Chief of Staff, I led the front office team and liaised with the Department of the Air Force Headquarters staff directly and with support from the Senior Military Assistant and Military Assistant. Office staff lead for all congressional and media engagements, including testimony preparation, briefings, media availability, and interviews. I provided political advice on congressional and interagency engagements and lead politically sensitive negotiations to build coalitions with SecAF’s team and interagency/OSD stakeholders. I provided USecAF with strategic recommendations on policy priorities and engagements and am responsible for leading change on the DAF nuclear framework, and implementation of Greater Power Competition (GPC) decisions. I also used my skills to lead on financial management issues like the Strategic Priorities Memo and Strategic Guidance through the creation and coordination phases to meet the USecAF’s political and management objectives and priorities.The USecAF team is a group of high performing individuals and I worked to develop their abilities, offer them opportunities to lead in their areas of responsibility, and position them for success in their individual career development.

I created a process for presenting an integrated $188 billion Air Force and $30 billion Space Force budget for review by SecAF, DoD, and OMB. Leading change like this, in a department that only recently added a second military service, required me to think strategically and build a team across senior leadership of both services to bring disparate practices, ideas and organizations together and present a unified DAF POM submission to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Serve as primary analyst of all programs related to the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the military programs in the Department of Energy. Prepare quick turnaround as well as in-depth analysis of Pentagon budget matters. Produce immediate analysis of President’s budget request, authorization and appropriations bills and reprogramming requests. Engage directly with Members of Congress, professional staff of Congressional committees and personal staff members on issues related to Pentagon budget issues. In this capacity, recommend ideas for and help craft floor amendments to Pentagon legislation. Created first ever database of unclassified federal cyber security spending.

Founded lobbying practice to represent client interests and priorities on Capitol Hill by analyzing annual Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security budget documents, setting legislative and executive branch strategies and executing same. Also provided business development and investment advice to clients for whom the firm did no direct lobbying.

Responsible for all aspects of government liaison for this high-technology manufacturing company. Set and executed strategy for furthering the corporation’s budget and programmatic priorities on Capitol Hill. Represented the company in meetings with officials from both the legislative and executive branches. Hired and managed consultants representing the company in all capacities before the federal government.

Represented firm clients seeking help with both direct appropriations and policy issues before both the legislative and executive branches of government. Guided clients in setting annual strategy, prepared written materials in support of that strategy and executed the same.

Special Assignment to Commission on the Terrorist Attack on USS COLE: Served as Legislative Affairs adviser to commissioners. Planned and executed dissemination to U.S. Congress regarding the terrorist attack in Yemen. Was part of small team recommending changes to DoD anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) practices to the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Served as a principal author of the final report in both classified and unclassified version.Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs: Managed highly active portfolio of international policy initiatives. Coordinated responses to all Congressional inquiries regarding those issues. Drafted testimony, prepared DoD leaders for hearings and arranged and participated in DoD briefings to Members and staff.Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs: Served as the desk officer for the 1999 round of NATO Enlargement requiring extensive negotiations in interagency process. Led a team of Pentagon personnel representing the U.S. Government in investigating the military capabilities related to the military readiness of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Served as a team leader of the group that subsequently prepared the first cost estimate for that round of enlargement. These reports were prepared for the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and were eventually presented to Congress.Office of the Secretary of the Navy: Served as the Secretary’s Principal Advisor for Long Range Planning. Prepared testimony for Congressional hearings on issues related to Navy budget planning.Commission on Roles and Missions: Served as Director for Legislative Affairs. Also chaired infrastructure team that recommended changes to military basing practices to allow for the “Joint Bases” that now exist in the Department of Defense structure.

Served as legislative analyst for Government Contracts department. Analyzed Pentagon’s annual budget request for government contracting clients. Also analyzed procurement reform initiatives in annual authorizing legislation.

Office of Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)Served as Legislative Assistant on all issues related to national defense. Analyzed annual budget requests for several federal departments and prepared hearing questions, Member statements and Committee and floor amendments related to same. Served as Associate Staff of the House Committee on Appropriations for Rep. Kolbe’s work on the Subcommittees on Military Construction and Commerce, State, Justice and the Judiciary. Coordinated response to Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations related to Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

Office of Representative Jim Olin (D-VA)Served as Legislative Assistant on all issues related to national defense. Analyzed annual budget requests for several federal departments and prepared hearing questions, Member statements and Floor amendments related to same. Was assigned as special staff assistant for a review of President Reagan’s “Strategic Defense Initiative.”