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GARY K. KESSLER
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air Programs (DASN(Air))
Office of the Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition)
703-614-7794 gary.kessler@navy.mil
240-895-0172 kesslergk@md.metrocast.net
CAREER OBJECTIVE
Join an organization that leverages my 35 years of technical, programmatic and executive
experience in leading program teams and organizations that delivered world-class
capability for the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense and inspired and
mentored our next generation of acquisition leaders.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Air Programs), Office of the Secretary of the Navy
(Research, Development and Acquisition)
As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Air Programs)(DASN(AIR)), I am the
principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and
Acquisition (ASN(RD&A)) on matters relating to aircraft (manned and unmanned), air-
launched weapons, cruise missiles, airborne sensors and avionics. DASN(Air) monitors and
advises ASN(RD&A) on programs managed by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
and affiliated Program Executive Offices (PEO). I promote acquisition excellence through
effective leadership of over 40+ major MDAP programs with a budget authority of over $120B
across the Five-Year Defense Plan.
Focused on leveraging should cost best practices across the aviation portfolio to drive out costs
and saved over $2B in FY15 and FY16 across development, procurement and support.
Provided alternative procurement profile strategies to the Secretary of the Navy as part of
POM-17 and POM-18 that added additional aircraft while achieving nearly $2B in
procurement savings for Naval Aviation. I was nominated by ASN(RDA) for the Presidential
Rank Award for my leadership and accomplishments for the Naval Aviation portfolio.
Executive Director, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) / Deputy
Assistant Commander for Test and Evaluation, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
As the Executive Director for Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD),
directly responsible for ensuring that business and financial objectives were met and that
the overall mission was executed in a safe and efficient manner. NAWCAD had a total
workforce of over 13,000 people across three sites (Patuxent River, MD, Lakehurst, NJ
and Orland, FL), executing work over $4.0B in FY12. As the Deputy Assistant
Commander for T&E for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), directly responsible
for the appropriate implementation of policy and guidance of T&E matters emanating from
the offices of the NAVAIR Commander, Vice Commander, and Deputy Commander in
addition to ensuring the successful execution of test and evaluation throughout NAVAIR.
This included all flight testing at Patuxent River, MD, China Lake, CA, and Point Mugu,
CA to include major programs such as JSF, P-8, E-2D, F/A-18G, CH-53K, Fire Scout,
BAMS and N-UCAS to name a few.
I spent considerable time and effort on mentoring and leading diversity initiatives for the
organization. Recognition of our workforce at national diversity events increased by over
40% during my tenure. Led and executed several workforce initiatives to recruit, develop
and retain a highly skilled workforce. These included STEM initiatives and educational
partnership agreements with higher education institutions. I was recognized with a Doctor
of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in May 2016

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and the Glenn L. Martin Medal from the University of Maryland in November 2014 for
these initiatives.
Deputy Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation Systems, PEO (U&W)
Successfully managed acquisition oversight and life-cycle support for all major Naval
Unmanned Aviation Systems programs such as, Raven B, Wasp and Shadow UASs, Small
Tactical Tier II UASs, Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical UAS, BAMS, Fire
Scout, and Navy UCAS. Completed the re-organization of the Unmanned Aviation
Systems (UAS) part of PEO(U&W). Implemented a Common Systems Integration IPT to
work across each of the UAS PMAs to ensure that there were no stove-piped UAS
solutions and to improve commonality and interoperability across the Naval UAS Family
of Systems. Implemented a UAS Leadership forum, with the PMAs and CSI Team, which
met on a regular basis to highlight the issues that needed to be addressed and to provide
opportunities for collaboration.
Chairman for NATO’s JCGUAV Group, which oversaw all aspects of NATO UAS
acquisition, and collaboration of UAS issues among all NATO countries. In addition, non-
NATO countries, such as Russia, Ukraine, and Israel attended our meetings, resulting in
over 26 countries participating in these meetings. Issues that were addressed were similar
to those that the OSD UAS Task Force was addressing, which provided for a lot of synergy
in these activities.
Director, Flight Test Engineering (AIR 5.1)
Served as the Chief Test Engineer for Naval Aviation. Managed and directed more than
800 engineers and engineering technicians performing integrated systems evaluation,
experimentation and test across three sites within the naval Air Systems Command. Led
the re-organization of 5.1.1 to enhance the coordination of PMA/PEO workload and
improved collaboration across all 5.0 departments.
Principal Deputy Program Manager for Precision Strike Weapons, PEO(W)
Direct Program Management execution for numerous acquisition projects with over $850
million in annual operating budget and managing over a thousand government and industry
personnel.
E-2 Integrated Program Manager, PEO(T)
Led the effort to re-organize the E-2 organization from a stove-piped organization to one
that collaborated across various product lines from the Hawkeye 2000 to the Advanced
Hawkeye (AHE) Program, which was an ACAT 1D program. My direct involvement in
leveraging the entire E-2 portfolio resulting in reducing the AHE development effort by
over $1B and led to the successful MS B decision for this critical program.
F/A-18 Deputy Program Manager for Systems Development, PEO(T)
Led the F/A-18 PMA’s People Focus Group, which aligned with the NAVAIR TEAM’s
Corporate Initiatives to provide the right training and tools for our people to excel and to
recognize and reward them in a timely manner. Led 10 Integrated Program Team (IPTs)
with budget authority of over $4B per year. These IPTs led the development and
integration of all new systems on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet program to include systems
such as ATFLIR, AMC&D, AESA Radar, MIDS, IDECM and many other critical systems
and weapons. Many of these systems had challenges during their development and I led
successful red teams to re-baseline the ATFLIR, AMC&D, MIDS and AESA programs.

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F-14 DFCS Lead Engineer, Simulation & Control Technology Dept, NATC, Pax River
Led the RDT&E efforts for the F-14 Digital Flight Control System Program. Completed
the update to the F-14 simulators and flight control computers for this development
program. Worked extensively with the Manned Flight Simulator Department and various
contractors to validate the simulation with flight test data and conducted numerous aircrew
evaluations in the simulator during the development and testing of this program.
Carrier Suitability Flight Test, NATC, SATD Pax River, MD
Held various positions and conducted numerous development and test programs. Led a
number of flight control and display development and test efforts for approach and landing
to Navy ships. These efforts included writing code for aircraft simulations and displays,
conducting aircrew evaluations with the support of AIR-4.6 research psychologists,
developing control systems and displays with Matlab tools and working with various
contractors to transition these capabilities to the Fleet. I chaired the Tri-Service Flight
Symbology Working group to develop primary symbology for Head-Up displays (HUDs)
to include leading various simulator evaluations at Pax River and NASA Ames.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science – University of Maryland, College Park, MD; May 1982
MBA, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL; December 1987
Program Manager’s, Defense Systems Mgmt. College, Fort Belvoir, VA; April 1997
Exec. Prog. Manager’s Course, Defense Sys. Mgmt. College, Fort Belvoir, VA; May 2004
Executive Business Course, University of North Carolina, May 2007
Leadership Maryland Program, December 2009
RECOGNITION/AWARDS
Secretary of Defense, Superior Management Award, December 1996
ANA, Edward H. Heinneman Award, May 1997
Foreign Comparative Test, Program Manager of the Year, 1997
Department of the Navy, Meritorious Civil Service Award, March 1999, June 2012
Department of the Navy, Superior Civil Service Award, October 2003, May 2010
Department of the Navy, Distinguised Civil Service Award, December 2014
Packard Award, December 2005
Numerous QSIs and Performance Awards
Glenn L. Martin Medal, University of Maryland, November 2014
Doctor of Humane Letter, honoris causa, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, May 2016