James F. Geurts is an American former government official and retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

colonel who most recently served as the official Performing the Duties of

United States Under Secretary of the Navy The Under Secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The Under Secretary, called the "Under" in The Pentagon, Pentagon slang, reports to the United States Secretary of the Na ...

Career

Geurts previously served from 2017 to 2021 as

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) (abbreviated ASN (RDA)) is a civilian office of the United States Department of the Navy. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) requ ...

. Prior to that role, he served in the

Senior Executive Service The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service ...

as Acquisition Executive for

United States Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Arm ...

, where he was responsible for all special operations forces research, development, acquisition, procurement, and logistics. He previously served in the U.S. Special Operations Command as Deputy Director of Special Operations Research, Development and Acquisition Center, and as Commander of the Joint Acquisition Task Force Dragon. Geurts also served as Program Executive Officer for the Fixed Wing Aircraft at the U.S. Special Operations Command. He is a recipient of the Federal Executive of the Year Vanguard Award,

Presidential Rank Award The Presidential Rank Awards program is an individual award program granted by the United States government to career Senior Executive Service (SES) members and Senior Career Employees within the OPM-allocated Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Profes ...

, William J. Perry Award,

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

with oak leaf cluster,

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

Joint Service Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to rece ...

with oak leaf cluster, and

Air Force Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to recei ...

with oak leaf cluster. Geurts was commissioned a

officer after graduating from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program in 1987. While in the Air Force, he managed programs involving intercontinental ballistic missiles, surveillance platforms, tactical fighter aircraft, advanced avionics systems, stealth cruise missiles, training systems, and manned and unmanned special operations aircraft. In 2009, he retired from the Air Force as a colonel. Geurts was the driving force behind ThunderDrone and Sofwerx, two military-civilian idea incubators in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. These incubators helped develop the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, which is a robotic

exoskeleton An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

suit. He stepped down from all government positions and formally retired in late August 2021.

External links

Biography at U.S. Air Force

Biography at U.S. Navy

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geurts, James Air Force Institute of Technology alumni Biden administration personnel Lehigh University alumni Living people National Defense University alumni Trump administration personnel United States Air Force officers United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy Year of birth missing (living people)