The Pentagon announced this week that Leslie Beavers will take over as principal deputy CIO at the Defense Department (DoD), and begin at her new post on May 8.
The deputy CIO job has been vacant since October – when Kelly Fletcher left DoD to become CIO at the State Department. Since then, DoD Chief Information Security Officer Dave McKeown has filled the role in an acting capacity.
In her new role, Beavers will assist CIO John Sherman in advising the Secretary of Defense on information management, information technology, and information assurance, the Office of the DoD CIO posted to LinkedIn.
Beavers will also aid in non-intelligence space systems, critical satellite communications, navigation, timing programs, spectrum, and telecommunications matters. She will lead engagement with defense agencies and field activities CIOs, and drive strategic resource planning across the IT and cybersecurity domains.
“I’d like to welcome Leslie to the DoD CIO,” Sherman said in a statement posted to LinkedIn on April 17. “Her most recent experience in [the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security] as the Director of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Capabilities leading the Defense Intelligence Digital Transformation Campaign Plan will enable her to hit the ground running on initiatives such as Zero Trust, [Joint Warfighting Cloud Contract], Software Modernization, and [Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations].”
He continued, adding, “I’d also like to thank Dave McKeown for the terrific work he has done filling in as the acting Principal Deputy for the last six months. Dave’s experience, leadership, and drive have been invaluable as we rolled out Zero Trust and awarded JWCC.”
Beavers comes to her new role at the DoD as the principal deputy CIO after serving in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security as director of enterprise capabilities since 2020.
Beavers has been a member of the Air Force Reserves for more than three decades, and in 2019 she earned the rank of brigadier general.
