Ms. Katherine “Katie” Arrington is Performing the Duties of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer.  In this capacity, she serves as the primary advisor to the Secretary of Defense for information management/Information Technology (IT); information assurance, as well as non-intelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications.

Prior to assuming this role, she served as the Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity. In this role she provided expert policy, technical, program, and defense-wide oversight support to the DoD CIO on all cybersecurity matters. She was responsible for leading the DoD-wide cybersecurity program, partnering with industry to improve cybersecurity and information sharing and represented the Secretary of Defense and DoD CIO in international discussions and negotiates on cybersecurity topics in both bilateral and multi-lateral (alliance and coalition) channels.

Before assuming her position as DoD DCIO(CS), Ms. Arrington was the Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Exiger, where she mobilized issues of universal consensus, including supply chain visibility, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and national security. She also ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2022.

A leading expert in policy and technology with extensive experience building relationships and coalitions across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, Ms. Arrington was the first DoD CISO for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)). She served as the central hub and integrator within OUSD(A&S) to align acquisition and sustainment cyber strategy and efforts to enhance cyber security within the Defense Industrial Base. She led the White House COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force for Acceleration as well as the team that created the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC).

Prior to her role as CISO for OUSD(A&S), Ms. Arrington had an extensive career as a legislator and senior cyber executive in private industry. She was a 2018 candidate for the US House of Representatives for South Carolina and served for two terms as a South Carolina State Representative. She has extensive experience in cyber strategy, policy, enablement, and implementation across a wide range of business sectors and governmental levels. She has over 15 years of cyber experience acquired through positions at Booz Allen Hamilton, Centuria Corporation, and Dispersive Networks. These positions have given her a unique experience of supporting and working with the government at large, small, and non-traditional contracting firms.

Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant is Commander, Space Systems Command, headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. He is responsible for more than 15,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel worldwide and an annual budget of $15.6 billion, while managing the research, design, development, acquisition, launch, and sustainment of satellites and the associated command and control systems. His extensive portfolio includes military satellite communication, missile warning, navigation and timing, space-based weather, space launch and test ranges, space superiority, responsive space and other emerging evolutionary space programs.

Prior to Space Systems Command, Lt. Gen. Garrant served as the Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements, and had the overall responsibility for the strategies, requirements, and budget of the United States Space Force.

Lt. Gen. Garrant received his commission from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Maryland in 1991. During his career, he has served in a variety of acquisition positions including Systems Engineer, Program Manager, Program Element Monitor, Squadron Commander, Senior Materiel Leader, Deputy Program Executive Officer and Program Executive.

EDUCATION
1991 Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
1995 Master of Science, Systems Management, Capitol College, Laurel, Md.
1996 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2003 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
2004 Master of Science, Systems Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2006 Air War College, by correspondence
2011 Master of Strategic Studies, Army War College, Carlisle, Pa.
2014 Enterprise Leadership Program, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2016 Leadership Development Program, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, N.C.
2023 Leadership at the Peak, Center for Creative Leadership, Colorado Springs, Colo.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. March 1992–June 1995, Systems Engineer then Program Manager, Document and Data Networks Division, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Md.
2. June 1995–June 1999, Systems Engineer then Program Manager, Data Masked
3. June 1999–March 2001, Air Combat Training Manager, Weapons and Tactics Branch, HQ USAFE, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
4. March 2001–June 2002, Executive Officer, Director of Air and Space Operations, HQ USAFE, Ramstein AB, Germany
5. August 2002–August 2003, Program Manager, F-16 Structures Branch, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah
6. August 2003–September 2004, Intermediate Developmental Education Student, Systems Engineering Department, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
7. September 2004–July 2006, Chief, Advanced Sensors Branch, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Rosslyn, Va.
8. July 2006–June 2007, Chief, Predator, Reaper, and Big Safari Programs Branch, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Rosslyn, Va.
9. June 2007–June 2009, Commander, 689 ARSS, Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Fla.
10. July 2008–January 2009, MNC-I C-8 Acquisition Liaison Officer, Camp Victory, Iraq
11. June 2009–June 2010, Deputy Director, 808 ARSG, Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Fla.
12. July 2010–June 2011, Senior Developmental Education Student, Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
13. July 2011–May 2014, Senior Material Leader, EELV Systems Division, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
14. October 2013–April 2014, Deputy Director for Regional Teams, Operational Contract Support and Chief, Audit Readiness, HQ USFOR-A, Kabul, Afghanistan and Al Udeid, Qatar
15. May 2014–June 2017, Director, Space Superiority Systems Directorate, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
16. June 2017–June 2019, Vice Commander and Deputy Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
17. June 2019–June 2022, Program Executive for Ground-based Weapon Systems, Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
18. August 2022–December 2023, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements, United States Space Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
19. December 2023–present, Commander, Space Systems Command, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. July 2008–January 2009, MNC-I C-8 Acquisition Liaison Officer, Camp Victory, Iraq, as a lieutenant colonel
2. October 2013–April 2014, Deputy Director for Regional Teams, Operational Contract Support and Chief, Audit Readiness, HQ USFOR-A, Kabul, Afghanistan and Al Udeid, Qatar, as a colonel
3. June 2019–June 2022, Program Executive for Ground-based Weapon Systems, Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., as a brigadier general and major general

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters

Pritha Mehra was named chief information officer (CIO) and executive vice president in November 2020, a role she had acted in since August 2020. She reports to the Postmaster General and chief executive officer.

As CIO, Mehra oversees one of the world’s largest technology infrastructures with five national deployment and solution centers, 32,000 network locations, 20,000 servers and more than 930 applications on more than 180,000 devices—processing more than 110 petabytes of data per year. She drives secure innovative capabilities to support the Postal Service’s mission to be the nation’s preferred delivery service.

Mehra is a thought leader on digital transformations and is focused on modernizing the USPS ecosystems, platforms and network to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive market environment, overseeing a network that supports 650,000 employees and the delivery of 127 billion mail pieces a year.

Before being named CIO, Mehra served as vice president of Information Technology (IT), where she pivoted the 1,800-person IT group to operate at scale through cloud-smart migration, transition to an agile framework and secure the development pipeline for more than 900 applications. She also served as vice president, Mail Entry and Payment Technology, where she led innovations for business customers that captured more than $40 billion in annual revenue and over $200 million in annual revenue shortage and savings.

Mehra has been honored with numerous awards, including Postal Service recognition for superior achievement and the Postmaster General Award. She was also named Top Boss in IT by FedScoop in 2021 and 2022. She holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University. Mehra completed the Senior Executive Assessment and Development Center Program. She is a Lean Six Sigma Executive Green Belt.

Mr. Mucha currently serves as the Technical Director, National Communication Systems, aligned under the Commander, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), and located at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Chantilly, Virginia. As the Technical Director in the NRO Communications Systems Directorate, he directs strategic planning and technical execution of the acquisition roadmap for the NRO’s information technology and transport infrastructure in support of the satellite reconnaissance mission. Additionally, he serves as the senior naval civilian and advocate at the NRO for naval requirements across a wide range of space capabilities. Mr. Mucha was promoted to this Senior Level position in August 2019.

Mr. Mucha began his federal career in 2002, at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego. During this assignment, he worked as a systems engineer on several SATCOM terminal programs and also as a test and evaluation engineer on the Wideband Global SATCOM payload interoperability and characterization test team. Mr. Mucha’s next assignment was as a project manager and systems engineer in PMW/PMA 170 within PEO C4I. He led a team to develop and field the Global Broadcast System Split Internet Protocol project and also served as the Lead Engineer for the Commercial Broadband SATCOM Program.

In 2008, Mr. Mucha’s first CAP assignment was as the Assistant Program Manager – Engineering for PMW/PMA 170. He led the satellite communication, tactical communication, and GPS navigation divisions in establishing consistent and rigorous engineering processes. Mr. Mucha’s next CAP assignment was to establish the role of APM – Engineering for Air Integration in PMW 750. In this capacity, he was responsible for guiding the engineering efforts of TacMobile, TBMCS, JADOCS, and aircraft integration programs.

In 2015, Mr. Mucha established the Key Leadership Position of Assistant Program Executive Officer – Engineering within the MIDS Program Office and led a staff of over 90 engineers. He led a period of rapid growth for the MIDS JTRS program, including the integration of the CMN-4 terminal on multiple new aircraft types. Mr. Mucha was asked to spearhead NAVWAR 5.0’s innovation initiatives in 2017 in support of high velocity learning and rapid prototyping.
Mr. Mucha holds a B.S. Electrical Engineering (1999) and a M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering (2001) – both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. While earning his master’s degree at Georgia Tech Lorraine, he was joint enrolled at the École Supérieure d’Électricité (Supélec) in Metz, France where he earned a Diplôme d’Ingénieur in Informatique et Ingénierie de la Connaissance (M.S Computer Science & Engineering – 2001). In 2016, he earned a M.S. Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Mr. Mucha was selected as a Secretary of Defense Executive Fellow in 2018, with placement at SpaceX, and is only the second civilian to be selected to this prestigious training program.