Dr. David O’Brien is the Director of Acquisition Venture Strategy and Initiatives, reporting to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. The founding Director of “AQV,” he is responsible for pioneering multi-domain, high-velocity acquisition pivoting to connect Air Force investments with creative commercial strategies, innovative providers and global venture capital. To promote rapid capabilities advancement, he champions new-era acquisition workforce training, radical process redesign and proof-of-concept prototyping for ever-increasing solution speed and mission value.
Prior to his current assignment, Dr. O’Brien was an Air Force Reserve major general. His leadership engagements encompassed a wide variety of acquisition strategy, contracting and program management roles within Air Force Communication Command, the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Special Projects, Air Force Space Command, Defense Contract Management Agency, Space and Missile Systems Center and Headquarters Air Force. He delivered state-of-the-art digital enterprise systems, advanced national priority space programs, launch and a prominent assured space access joint venture, as well as directed energy, cyber intelligence and surveillance and reconnaissance achievements.
As a civilian, Dr. O’Brien was most recently the president of a firm specializing in strategy, innovation and operational leadership. He delivered several global e-commerce solutions, business innovations and advanced technology applications for private equity clients, universities and commercial entities. Previously, he held global leadership positions at two major Silicon Valley information technology firms, and earlier, at a prime-tier aerospace defense corporation, where he delivered over a dozen classified, civil and commercial space programs, including the then-largest private equity, space-based remote sensing system joint venture. He is the recipient of that corporation’s National Contracts Achievement Award and graduate of their Executive Development program.
EDUCATION
1981 Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, University of New Hampshire, Durham
1986 Master of Science, Procurement and Acquisition Management Law, Northrop University, Calif.
1996 Master of Business Administration, Golden Gate University, San Francisco
1997 Systems Dynamics for Senior Managers, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1998 Executive Management Institute, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, Calif.
2003 Doctor of Philosophy, Business and Organizational Leadership, Regent University, Va.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1. February 1982‒March 1990, Active duty. Assignments with Air Force Communication Command, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Special Projects-8 and 9, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., and Deputy for Contracting, Space Technology Center, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
2. March 1990‒March 2019, Reserve duty. Assignments with Air Force Space Command at Onizuka Air Force Station, Calif., The Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., Secretary of the Air Force Office of Transformation Support, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., the Defense Contact Management Agency, Fort Lee, Va., and Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology & Logistics), the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
3. January 1990‒August 2000, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Sunnyvale, Calif.
4. August 2000‒June 2010, Sun Microsystems and Oracle Corporation, Palo Alto and Redwood Shores, Calif.
5. June 2010‒May 2019, President, Catalyst – A Consulting Firm, Inc., San Francisco
6. May 2019‒present, Director, Acquisition Venture Strategy and Initiatives, “AQV,” Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology & Logistics), the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
(Current as of September 2019)