WASHINGTON (AFNS) --
The senate confirmed Dr. Bill LaPlante as the next assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition Feb. 12.
LaPlante, who currently serves as the principal deputy, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, is excited to bring his nearly three decades worth of experience to this new position.
“I’ve spent over 28 years around systems technologies, acquisition programs; touching all aspects of those programs for all services,” he said during a confirmation hearing Jan. 16. “This experience along with my time on the Defense Science Board offers firsthand impressions of Defense acquisition.”
Many of those years were spent at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., and eight more spent as the department head for the University’s Global Engagement Department before moving to MITRE as the Missile Defense Portfolio director.
The confirmation makes LaPlante the first confirmed acquisition senior leader since the departure of David Van Buren in March 2012.
(Information courtesy of the Air Force Public Affairs Agency, Operating Location - P)