Mr. Alan R. Shaffer is the Director, Washington Operations for MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Previously, he served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S) until January 2021. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January 2019, Mr. Shaffer was responsible to the Under Secretary of Defense (A&S) for all matters pertaining to acquisition contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base. During this period, he concurrently served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense.
From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Shaffer served as the Director, NATO Collaboration Support Office in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. In this role, he was responsible for coordinating and synchronizing the Science and Technology (S&T) collaboration between NATO member and partner Nations, comprising a network of about 5,000 scientists.
Previous to his role at NATO, Mr. Shaffer served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)). In this position, he was responsible for formulating, planning and reviewing the DoD Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) programs, plans, strategy, priorities, and execution of the $25B DoD RDT&E annual budget. He also served twice as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering from 2007-2009 and 2012-2015, a position that was the Chief Technology Officer of the DoD.
In 2009, Mr. Shaffer was appointed as the first Director, Operational Energy, Plans and Programs (Acting). He has also served as the Executive Director for several senior DoD Task Forces, including DoD Energy Security Task Force, and the Mine Resistant Ambush Protection (MRAP) Task Force, where he was responsible for oversight, fielding and employment of 27,000 MRAPs across the Department of Defense.
Before entering the federal government, Mr. Shaffer served 24 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force and retired in 2000 as a Colonel. While serving, he held positions in command, weather, intelligence and acquisition oversight with assignments in Utah, California, Ohio, Honduras, Germany, Virginia, Washington, D.C and Nebraska. After retiring from the Air Force, Mr. Shaffer was appointed to the Senior Executive Service.
Mr. Shaffer earned a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Vermont in 1976, a second B.S in Meteorology from the University of Utah, an M.S. in Meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Over his career, Mr. Shaffer has received several prestigious civilian service awards, including the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award in 2007 and 2015.
Mr. Shaffer is a member of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies Board of Regents and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Emerging Technology Institute of NDIA, as well as a member of several boards.