Acquisition and Sustainment Leadership Transition

The Department of Defense announced the following leadership transition:

Ms. Cara L. Abercrombie was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (ASD(A)) today.

As ASD(A), Abercrombie is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD(A&S)), the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Defense on matters relating to the Department of Defense (DoD) Acquisition System, acquisition program management, and the development of strategic, space, intelligence, tactical warfare, command and control, and business systems.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Abercrombie served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Defense Policy and Arms Control on the National Security Council. Previously, she was the Acting Deputy Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, overseeing the organization’s diverse portfolio of Security Cooperation programs and working with external stakeholders to synchronize DSCA activities with foreign policy and national security objectives. Additionally, she was the first President of the Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU) and Principal Director for Workforce Development, responsible for overseeing the professional development and certification of the 15,000+ civilian and military members of the DoD security cooperation workforce; and the training of other DoD, U.S. Government, defense industry and foreign partner personnel who perform related functions.

Ms. Abercrombie has more than two decades of experience working in the Department of Defense. She was a career member of the Senior Executive Service.

Previously she was detailed as a visiting fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in 2017-2018, where she published numerous articles on U.S.- India defense relations; and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, from 2016-2017. In this role, she served as principal advisor to senior Department leadership for all policy matters pertaining to development and implementation of defense strategies and plans for the region. She was responsible for managing the bilateral security relationships with nations of that region and guiding Department of Defense engagement with regional multilateral institutions. Additionally, she held a range of positions in the Department that included Principal Director for East Asia Policy, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Director for South Asia, Human Capital Strategy Advisor to the Under Secretary for Policy, Defense Institution Building Coordinator, and Senior Country Director for India. She joined the Department as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2003. Prior to entering government, Ms. Abercrombie was a Program Officer for Eurasia with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.