Barry J. Pike is a consultant for U.S. national security and defense businesses, and is the President & CEO of Pike Defense Consulting, LLC. He retired from the federal government in 2020 after a 36-year career as a Department of the Army Civilian. He was a member of the Army’s Senior Executive Service (SES) assigned as the Program Executive Officer (PEO) and Deputy PEO for Missiles & Space, and the Director of Technology Development for the DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center.
Mr. Pike has nearly 40 years of experience in program & business management; science & technology; and research, development, & engineering, to equip and sustain U.S. forces and international partners with Aviation, Field Artillery Rocket & Missile, Air & Missile Defense, Ballistic & Cruise Missile Defense, Hypersonic and Counter-Hypersonic Missile, Armed UAS & Counter-UAS, Counter-RAM, Close Combat/Anti-Tank Missile, and Space & Counter-Space capabilities.
While serving as an Army SES, he was responsible for managing and delivering defense capabilities in more than 30 acquisition programs with an annual budget of over $8B, and Foreign Military Sales valued at over $40B in more than 500 cases. He was also selected for a prestigious one-year assignment in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition in the Pentagon.
Prior to serving in the SES, Mr. Pike was the Chief of Staff, Program Executive Office for Missiles & Space from 2005 – 2010. From 1992-1999, he served in a variety of key leadership positions in the Army National Missile Defense Ground Based Elements Program Office including the Deputy Program Manager, Chief of the Program and Acquisition Management Division, Assistant Program Manager for Program Planning, and Chief of the System Engineering and Analysis Branch. In the DPM position, he shared responsibility with the SES Program Manager in directing the development, testing, integration, and deployment planning of the ground-based NMD elements, including the ground-based interceptor, ground-based radar, and associated battle management/command, control, and communications capability.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Pike has received numerous honors and awards including the Secretary of the Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence, Army Award for Outstanding Service in the Army Senior Executive Service, and several others.
Mr. Pike graduated with honors from Auburn University with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering. He is a graduate of the Defense Acquisition University Program Management Course, the Vanguard Senior Executive Leadership Program, the Army Senior Executive Education Program at the University of Virginia Darden Business School, and was a member of the Army Acquisition Corps.