Brigadier General DAVID B. BEEN

Brig. Gen. David B. Béen is the Director of the Department of Defense Special Access Program Central Office. He is also the Director of Special Programs, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.  He serves as the principal staff assistant and adviser to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics on all programs protected under special access controls. Additionally, the general serves as the DoD Director of Low Observables.

General Béen was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training program at Colorado State University. He has been a squadron weapons officer and U.S. Air Force Weapons School instructor, has commanded deployed combat flying units at the squadron and group level, and has commanded an operational wing.  He has flown 1,200 combat hours over Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, and has over 4,000 total flight hours, primarily in the  B-1. His staff assignments include Commander-in-Chief’s Military Assistant at a NATO regional headquarters, the Director of Air Force Manpower (A1M), and the Joint Staff Deputy Director for Global Operations (J39). 

 

EDUCATION
1987 Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
1994 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1994 Weapons Instructor Course (Outstanding Graduate), U.S. Air Force Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev.
1998 Master's degree in Aerospace Science Technology, Embry Riddle University
2001 Master of Military Operational Arts and Sciences (Distinguished Graduate), Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2008 Master of Strategic Studies, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2010 Leadership Enhancement Program, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, N.C.
2011 National Security Management Course, Syracuse University, N.Y.
2012 Enterprise Leadership Seminar, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
2013 Senior Joint Information Operations Applications Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2015 Defense Executive Overview Workshop, Defense Acquisition University, Virginia

ASSIGNMENTS
1. December 1987 - October 1988, Student, Undergraduate Navigator Training, Mather AFB, Calif.
2. May 1989 - March 1991, B-52H Instructor Navigator, 23rd Bomb Squadron, Minot AFB, N.D.
3. August 1991 - February 1994, Instructor OSO, Weapons and Tactics, 28th Bomb Squadron, McConnell AFB, Kan.
4. February 1994 - June 1994, Student, USAF Weapons School, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
5. June 1994 - March 1995, Flight Commander, Weapons and Tactics, 34th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
6. March 1995 - June 1998, Flight Commander, Instructor, USAF Weapons School, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
7. June 1998 - June 1999, Chief, Block D Integration Office, 28th Operations Group, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
8. June 1999 - July 2000, Assistant Operations Officer, 37th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
9. July 2000 - June 2001, Student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
10. June 2001 - June 2003, J-5 Staff Officer, then Military Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief, Regional
Headquarters Allied Forces North, Brunssum, Netherlands
11. June 2003 - June 2005, Operations Officer, 34th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
12. June 2005 - July 2007, Commander, 37th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
13. July 2007 - May 2008, Student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
14. May 2008 - June 2009 Director of Warfighting Education, Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine
Development and Education, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
15. June 2009 - July 2010, Commander, 379th Expeditionary Operations Group, Southwest Asia
16. July 2010 - July 2012, Commander, 7th Bomb Wing, Dyess AFB, Texas
17. July 2012 - April 2013, Director, Manpower, Organization and Resources, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
18. April 2013 - March 2015, Deputy Director, Global Operations (J39), the Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
19. March 2015 - present, Director of the Department of Defense Special Access Program Central Office, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 

 

 

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1993 - June 1995, J-5 Staff Officer, then Military Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief, Regional Headquarters Allied Forces North, Brunssum, Netherlands, as a major and lieutenant colonel
2. April 2013 - March 2015, Deputy Director, Special Actions and Operations (J38), J-3, the Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a brigadier general

 

 

3. March 2015 - present, Director of the Department of Defense Special Access Program Central Office, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: master navigator
Flight hours: 4,200 (1200 combat hours)
Aircraft flown: B-1, B-52, T-37, T-43, plus combat missions in C-130H, E-8, RC-135, KC-135

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
Kosovo Campaign Medal with bronze star
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
NATO Medal

 

 

 

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Aug. 23, 1987
First Lieutenant Aug. 23, 1989
Captain Aug. 23, 1991
Major March 1, 1999
Lieutenant Colonel March 1, 2003
Colonel Sept. 1, 2007
Brigadier General June 14, 2013

(Current as of July 2016)