Gary Powell

Gary Powell is a senior associate with the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, he spent more than 30 years with the Department of Defense (DOD), most recently, as assistant deputy under secretary for defense for industrial policy (ADUSD(IP)), the senior career DOD executive for all matters related to the defense industry and industrial policy. As ADUSD(IP), Mr. Powell directed or oversaw all corporate DOD industrial capability assessments to identify potential near-term industrial bottlenecks and long-term industrial capability viability concerns. He also represented DOD equities to Congress for current and proposed “Buy American” legislation and other industrial base-related statutes and policies. Mr. Powell directed DOD mergers and acquisitions reviews for both antitrust (Hart-Scott-Rodino) and national security (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) purposes. He also directed DOD’s Defense Priorities and Allocations System and Priority Allocation of Industrial Resources Task Force to ensure the most important programs received priority delivery when faced with production resource constraints, most recently supporting U.S. and coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Powell's responsibilities also included the development of policies, procedures, analyses, and recommendations relating to defense industrial resources and defense industry trends and the programmatic, industrial, financial, and economic impacts of DOD acquisition strategies on the industrial base.