William McCormick
Executive Mosaic is happy to announce Heather Wilson, secretary of the U.S. Air Force and the principal space adviser for the Department of Defense, has been selected for the 2019 edition of the Wash100 — Executive Mosaic’s annual selection of the most influential voices in the government contracting arena — for her leadership and vision to ensure the Air Force leads the race in space modernization into the 21st century. This marks Wilson’s second consecutive win.
In September, Wilson affirmed her support for President Donald Trump’s plan to establish a “space force.†The service is advancing its space capabilities and developing programs to protect U.S. satellites from any possible threats. The Air Force Space Command has launched simulations preparing the service for threats in space and wargames over the last 20 years.
Wilson said the Air Force is changing its culture in the development, acquisition and fielding space technologies in 2019. The Space and Missile Systems Center was reorganized to speed up the acquisition process and eliminate silos among organizations.
During the 34th Space Symposium, Wilson announced the service would share its educational courses on space with U.S. partners starting in 2019. The Air Force plans to teach allies about collision avoidance, space situational awareness and additional courses in Colorado at the National Security Space Institute at Peterson Air Force Base.
The 2018 SpaceNews Awards For Excellence & Innovation recognized Wilson for her excellent understanding of the technical and political challenges involved to defend against counterspace threats. Before President Trump’s mission to create a “space force,†Wilson was transforming the Air Force’s air, space and cyber forces. Wilson was able to negotiate a 20 percent spending increase for the service with the White House to ensure those efforts would be well funded heading into 2019.
Wilson is the 24th secretary of the Air Force. She oversees the agency’s $138B annual budget and is responsible for the affairs of the Department of the Air Force. Her responsibilities include training, organizing and providing welfare to the 685,000 active-duty personnel. Wilson has served more than 35 years of professional experience in a range of leadership and management roles in the military, higher education, government and the private industry.
Between 1998 and 2009, Wilson was a member of the House of Representatives. During her tenure, she served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Heather Wilson for receiving her second Wash100 Award.
About The Wash100
This year represents our sixth annual Wash100 award selection. The Wash100 is the premier group of private and public sector leaders selected by Executive Mosaic’s organizational and editorial leadership as the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector. These leaders demonstrate skills in leadership, innovation, achievement, and vision.
Visit the Wash100 website, where viewers can submit 10 votes for the executives of consequence they believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.
