Maj. Gen. Edward Vaughan
Executive Director of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC)
Maj. Gen. Edward Vaughan is the Executive Director of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. He leads a cross-functional team dedicated to fast-tracking the acquisition of materiel, logistics, and operational solutions to address the urgent needs of Warfighters based on Combatant Command requirements. Under authority of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, he also serves as the Executive Secretary for all Warfighter Senior Integration Groups (SIGs). He is the senior Department of Defense official responsible for recommending the use of Rapid Acquisition Authorities for validated Joint Urgent Operational Needs (JUONs) and Joint Emergent Operational Needs (JEONs). Additionally, he leads Defense Assisted Acquisition (DA2) initiatives for interagency support.
Gen. Vaughan graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and was commissioned in 1992 as the top graduate from Air National Guard officer training. Throughout his career, General Vaughan has held numerous joint, operational, and staff roles. He commanded a joint operations detachment in Antarctica, an expeditionary operational support squadron in Iraq, and a flying wing in Puerto Rico. His staff experience includes headquarters tours of duty with U.S. Air Force, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. European Command, National Guard Bureau, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He is one of a handful of senior officers to have served as deputy in both the Director of Mobility Forces (DIRMOBFOR) and Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC) roles, the latter as senior U.S. officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Before assuming his current role, General Vaughan served as the Director of Space Operations at the National Guard Bureau. In this position, he oversaw the organization, training, and equipping of 1,200 space operations warfighters across 17 units of action, ensuring combat readiness to meet Combatant Command requirements. Prior to that, he was the Deputy J5 at U.S. European Command, where he led Ukraine Security Force Assistance, supervised all theater Offices of Defense Cooperation, and co-chaired the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable.
Gen. Vaughan is a command fighter pilot and polar airlifter with more than 2,700 flying hours in F-16, LC-130, and A-10, over 200 combat hours fighting in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Southern Watch, and over 100 polar ski landings, including at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. He has extensive humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and cross-cultural negotiation experience. He holds a master’s degree from Air War College, where he was a fellow and later faculty with the Blue Horizons futures program. Prior to active duty, he was a part-time member of the Air National Guard while working in the private sector as engineer, manager and entrepreneur. He was the first Reserve officer to be inducted in the U.S. Air Force Safety Hall of Fame, primarily for creation of the Disruptive Solutions Process.