Dr. Elizabeth P. Van Winkle, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Deputy Director of Military Force Management Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. In this position, she is responsible for establishing and overseeing military force management policies that support and retain Air Force personnel across the military lifecycle and foster a diverse and inclusive culture. These policies guide the accession, assignment, evaluation, skills analysis and management, promotion, readiness, retraining, retention, separation and retirement of the Air Force's human capital and ensure Airmen have the necessary experiences and attributes required to compete, deter and win in the high-end fight. Dr. Van Winkle was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2016. Prior to her current assignment, she served as the Executive Director of the Office of Force Resiliency (OFR). In this role, Dr. Van Winkle was the principal staff advisor to the Secretary of Defense on policies related to violence prevention to include sexual assault prevention and response; suicide prevention; harassment, including hazing and bullying; diversity management, equal opportunity; drug demand reduction; and the Department’s collaborative efforts with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She established the Department of Defense Violence Prevention Cell and authored and issued the first Integrated Violence Prevention policy for the DOD.
From January through November 2017, Dr. Van Winkle performed the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness. In this role, she was the principal staff advisor to the Secretary of Defense on all matters related to military readiness and resiliency. She oversaw the policies within the OFR portfolio, as well as those that ensure the Total Force was ready for the missions assigned by the President and the Secretary of Defense. Her responsibilities included oversight of the Defense Readiness Reporting System, the readiness system that measures the capability of the armed forces to carry out the National Security Strategy, the Defense Planning Guidance, and the National Military Strategy. Dr. Van Winkle developed the Readiness Recovery Framework, the Department’s first management tool to facilitate the military services’ readiness recovery and predict future readiness requirements. She chaired the Executive Readiness Management Group, the National Security Education Board, and the Defense Language Steering Committee. She served on the Executive Joint Combat Capabilities Assessment Group and was the Defense Department’s Senior Language Authority.
Dr. Van Winkle is a published author on the impact of combat stress on symptoms of PTSD, the impact of deployments on military spouse well-being, and numerous technical reports on sexual assault and harassment in military populations.
EDUCATION
1992 Bachelor of Arts, Psychology and English, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
2000 Master of Arts, Sociology, Boston University, Boston, Mass.
2010 Master of Arts, Applied Experimental Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
2012 Doctor of Philosophy, Applied Experimental Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. March 2010–July 2011, Lead Analyst Military Spouse Surveys, Defense Manpower Data Center, Rosslyn, Va.
2. July 2011–December 2012, Senior Associate for the Defense Intelligence Group, Applied Organizational Research Division, ICF International, Fairfax, Va.
3. December 2012–February 2015, Deputy Branch Chief for the Survey Design, Analysis, and Operations Division, Defense Manpower Data Center, Mark Center, Arlington, Va.
4. February 2015–November 2016, Director of Health and Resilience Surveys and Research, Office of People Analytics, Mark Center, Arlington, Va.
5. November 2016–January 2017, Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Force Resiliency, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
6. January 2017–November 2017, Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
7. November 201–September 2021, Executive Director of the Office of Force Resiliency, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
8. September 2021–present, Deputy Director of Military Force Management Policy, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service
Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service
(Current as of March 2022)