Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
The Pentagon has named Chris Shank, a former NASA official, as director of the Strategic Capabilities Office, according to a biography posted to the Defense Department's website.
Shank "brings many years of military, government, and commercial industry experience to SCO," the bio states. He was previously a vice president at the consulting firm Van Scoyoc Associates.
Shank's experience shows he is well acquainted with the Trump administration, the Defense Department and his new boss, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin.
In 2017, as a senior adviser to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Shank advised officials on the establishment of Griffin's new research and engineering position, as well as the White House National Space Council. He also led agency review teams for NASA and the National Science Foundation on behalf of President Trump's transition team, according to his Van Scoyoc Associates biography.
Between 2005 and 2009, when Griffin was the director of NASA, Shank served as director of strategic investments at the space agency. Following his stint at NASA, Shank led military, intelligence, civil and commercial business development efforts at Honeywell Associates.
Shank has also worked on Capitol Hill for the House Science Committee, first between 2001 and 2005 and then again as policy director from 2011 to 2017. He served in the Air Force between 1991 and 2001 in various capacities including at the Pentagon, the National Reconnaissance Office and Air Force Space Command.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for additional details on Shank's hiring.
Shank will be the second SCO director since its founding. Will Roper, the first director, left the post to be the Air Force's top acquisition official earlier this year. Established in 2012, the office is tasked with finding new and innovative ways of using existing capabilities to bolster conventional deterrence against potential adversaries like Russia and China. The SCO is seeking $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2019.