WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 8, 2013) -- Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation, Keith B. Webster, will build upon his many successes as he transitions to a new role with the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Webster now serves as the director for international cooperation within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, or OSD. In that role he is in charge of managing a host of key issues for the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, or AT&L, Frank Kendall. Issues within his purview include international partnerships with key global allies, significant acquisition and technology-related matters affecting U.S. global military development, and coordination with OSD policy personnel.
"Inside Mr. Kendall's portfolio of AT&L and inside the broader context of OSD, we will decide our priority activities and examine how we should be organized and engaged globally," Webster said. "Within AT&L, we are here to inform the requirements process with the J8 and ensure timely consideration of foreign technology opportunities and foreign product opportunities. We want to make sure that the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System process is well-informed-to include international cooperation."
In particular, Webster's role will call upon his considerable expertise in technology- and acquisition-specific international cooperation issues, foreign military sales, direct commercial sales and international policy issues, among other things.
"I am chartered to advise him [Mr. Kendall] on all international matters and to be knowledgeable of global political military events, and to be in contact and in touch with those in OSD policy who have a pre-eminent role in international policy formulation here in the Pentagon," Webster added.
That means advising Kendall on the international aspects of key programs like the multi-national Joint Strike Fighter effort and the acquisition of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. In instances such as these, Webster will examine the possibility of inserting or connecting with foreign R&D in the developmental process to further collaborate with allies and improve the development of next-generation capabilities.
In fact, international developmental partnerships can be a key to sustaining production capacity for significant U.S. programs and technologies, Webster said. Along these lines, Webster's duties will include research and academic pursuits aimed at examining industrial base issues in partnership with those in AT&L chartered with working industrial base matters.
"FMS and direct commercial sales programs are critical as they address potential gaps in production," he said. "How do we appropriately generate international interest in a product so that we don't have a break in production? We will partner with our OSD policy colleagues to see where we can leverage the engagement to help Mr. Kendall and help the industrial base."
Webster's expertise is informed by a distinguished career. Most recently, Webster managed the Army's Security Cooperation programs as the DASA (DE&C), the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology's deputy for international acquisition. This involved policy generation and execution oversight of Army security assistance, direct commercial sales, and international armaments cooperation. In that role, Webster supervised more than $18 billion in annual sales, managed programs that involved more than 2,000 Army civilian and military personnel, and worked to identify those critical capabilities which will need to be sustained into the future.
In addition, Webster oversaw the development and maturation of significant large-scale U.S. Army foreign military sales cases, many of which helped build partner capacity and solidify important relationships with important international coalition members-to include sales of CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopters, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, Patriot missiles, Excalibur 155mm precision artillery shells and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, among others.
These efforts were recognized by some of his foreign counterparts and Webster was awarded the rank of Chevalier (Knight) in the French Order National du Merite. Furthermore, Webster received the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration's Medal of Merit (Silver), specifically recognizing his efforts on behalf of Sweden in acquiring UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters through foreign military sales and for being instrumental in obtaining training seats for Swedish pilots and maintainers.
Webster has an MA in international relations from Catholic University, a BS in business/finance from Towson State University, is a Level 3 certified acquisition professional and is a fellow of the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Related Links:
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology
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