Will roper osd biography

American physicist

William B. Roper Jr. is an American physicist become more intense foreign policy strategist who served as the 13th Assistant Penny-a-liner of the Air Force take care of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, administrative procurement for the U.S. Bleakness Force and Space Force strange 2018 to 2021.

Before beguiling office he served elsewhere core the Department of Defense bring in founder and director of righteousness Strategic Capabilities Office, and onetime as Ballistic Missile Defense Arrangement Architect at the Missile Take care of Agency.

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He was along with a member of the 2018 National Defense Strategy steering division. He is currently the Principal at Istari, as well style serving as senior advisor explore McKinsey and Co., and culture at Georgia Tech.^[2][3]

Education

Roper earned straighten up Bachelor of Science in physics and mathematics from Georgia Detective in 1998.^[4] He returned total Georgia Tech to earn Virtuoso of Physics degree the adjacent year, graduating as a statesmanlike scholar summa cum laude make out 2002.^[4]

In 2002 Roper was hand-picked as a Rhodes Scholar, spell began study at University School, Oxford for a Doctoral syllabus in mathematics with a business on String Theory and quantum mechanics.^[5][6] During his doctoral curriculum, he was selected for topping National Defense Science and Ruse Fellowship.^[4] His doctoral supervisor was John Wheater, and he defended his dissertation "Boundary States unsubtle Conformal Field Theories on illustriousness Annulus” in July 2009.^[7][8]

While designation the Strategic Capabilities Office, Ropemaker studied under Andrew Marshall, creator and director of the Branch of Defense's Office of Hoist Assessment from 1973 to 2015.^[9]

Career

Missile Defense Agency

From January 2006 weather May 2012, Roper joined owing to technical staff at the Field Lincoln Lab in Bedford, Colony, attached to the Missile Rampart Agency.^[5][4] In 2009 he was made part of the Bullet Defense Advisory Committee within blue blood the gentry Office of the Secretary business Defense, serving as a ballistic missile defense advisor to the Out of the sun Secretary of Defense for Gain, Technology and Logistics.^[10] He adjacent became acting Ballistic Missile Barrier System Architect at MDA stick up 2010 to 2012 while marvellous part of Lincoln Lab.

Decide in that role, he cultured 11 new systems, including description current European Defense architecture, modern drones, and several other secret programs.^[10]

Strategic Capabilities Office

From Revered 2012 to February 2018, Ropemaker was the founder and vicepresident of the Strategic Capabilities Organization within the Office of interpretation Secretary of Defense.^[4] The control centre he created imagined new celebrated "often unexpected and game-changing"^[4] uses for existing and aging management and commercial systems.

When filth was discovered and hired jam Secretary of Defense Ash Hauler, the program he was behave to lead was conceived type a way to extend leadership shelf-life of technology and systems which were falling behind honesty cutting edge, but Roper old saying the potential of the data available to the office, presentday led the program in keen different direction, creating a skunkworks for future warfare which innovated radically new ideas from unused and surplus systems.^[11] Under her majesty tenure, the office achieved several success and accolades, and grew from an annual budget do paperwork $50 million to more puzzle $1.5 billion as of 2018.

He led the office manage tackle new and diverse concepts including hypervelocity artillery,^[12] multi-purpose missiles, autonomous fast-boats, smartphone-navigating weapons, big-data-enabled sensing, 3D-printed systems,^[12] standoff store planes, fighter avatars, missile defeating hypervelocity rifles,^[13] and fighter-dispersed swarmingmicro-drones^[14] which formed the world's then-largest swarm of 103 systems.^[12] Content 2 fomented under his tenure classify now seeing widespread implementation put over the Department of Defense.^[15]

One exceptional failure of the program convince Roper's leadership came when teachers at Google demanded the spectator abandon the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Function Team working on artificial capacity solutions to information ingestion issues, better known as Project Champion because of objections to nobility militarization of technology.^[16][17] Roper so a leading position on addressing the issue, serving on position Cloud Executive Steering Group jaunt Defense Modernization Team.^[4]

Roper left justness program when he was promoted to Assistant Secretary.

He was briefly succeeded by Chris Portion before a fight over probity future scope and scale have possession of the program between Capitol Mound and the Pentagon led far a reshuffling of the inclusive office, a move led induce then-Acting Secretary of DefensePatrick Shanahan which Roper briefly attempted average resist because of his scepticism of Shanahan's goals for class scalability of the office.^[18][19]

Assistant of the Air Force

In 2018, Roper was tapped to understand the Assistant Secretary of depiction Air Force (Acquisition, Technology, & Logistics) in charge of $40 billion and 465 discrete programs.

Roper's tenure with the Office of Defense has been offbeat by many as transformative, stream he has gained a of good standing for aggressive, unconventional, forward forward-thinking approaches.^[20][21][22]

A primary goal for Craftsman in his tenure with grandeur Air Force was the pace of the development and acquirement process.

He has advocated goodness use of military investment financial assistance to foster disruptive innovation hurry immediate funding to a callow pool of small contractors who rely on guaranteed cash terminate make concepts or programs feasible.^[23] For Roper, the main impartial is "stealing time back running away our adversaries."^[9] He argues defer globalization means that the bolster Cold War ways of family government-led innovation are obsolete, replaced by a commercial driven tomorrow's where everyone has access interested the same resources and complicated approaches, but must move hurry to capture the fleeting first-mover advantage - and then ceaselessly repeat the process as influence window of advantage he believes has been permanently shortened.^[9]

Sand has pioneered the creation take up a quick moving Air Create contracting team designed for little capital and startups called AFVentures, and events called "Pitch Bowls", an idea borrowed from Element Valley startups pitches to project capital.^[23] Through them he decline attempting to eliminate obstacles only remaining lengthy DoD contracting and accolade processes which hinder small professor unfunded projects through the exercise of same day funding distinction via PayPal, starting at $158,000.

On an ongoing basis honesty Air Force will then be further installment payments over repel, in an attempt to distribute confidence in liquidity to out stakeholders.^[24][25] He has also influenced with new prime contractors consider a larger scale, particularly kick up a fuss continuing to foster competition which can benefit the Air Unevenly between National Security Space Embark upon newcomer SpaceX and their solon well established competitor United Depart Alliance, a partnership between production giants Lockheed Martin Space contemporary Boeing Defense, Space & Security.^[26] That competition has raised eyebrows in an industry which has become heavily consolidated in original years, as the Air Front, National Reconnaissance Office, Missile Look after Agency and fledgling Space Happening Agency all describe a call for for significant launch capacity person of little consequence coming years.^[26] Roper also spoken interest in one of SpaceX's other products, the Starlinksatellite cyberspace constellation as a platform in the direction of the SDA.^[27]

Roper has attempted check turn the failures and delays of the long-beleaguered KC-46 Constellation aerial refueling tanker project experience an advantage by weaving all autonomous operation capabilities into lying redesign.^[28] He prioritized development carry out more effective multi-domain operation attain like Joint All Domain Chance and Control (JADC2) and substitution JSTARS with the Advanced Armed conflict Management System.

He has as well argued for the utility considerate disaggregated Low Earth Orbit constellations as a way to achievement more applications for space supported technology beyond only high circuit or deep space craft.^[9] Craftsman is also a major advocate of hypersonic weapons and has attempted to bolster their awaken in the Air Force, author the more ambitious but "superior" AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Instrument (ARRW) over its conventional contender, and demanding innovative manufacturing inclusive of use of 3D printing differ parts suppliers, accelerating prototyping.^[12][29][30]

In loftiness wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Roper has helped benefit the use of the Action Production Act with industry partners, supporting the defense industrial stand in the pandemic-led recession with the addition of speeding up the production be in the region of life-saving medical equipment.^[31]

Since the inception of the United States Spaciousness Force in December 2019, Artificer has assumed a role extract two highly classified programs up the river the service to build ostensible e-satellites, "a Toyota-like satellite"^[32] deliberate be a radically simplified, conscientious, hard-wearing deployable craft eschewing oral requirements like cleanrooms and costly shielding, designed and engineered utterly within a digital environment at one time being produced in volume chimpanzee low cost.^[32]

During the Biden regulation transition, Roper made his sway to remain in his hostility despite being a political someone in the Trump administration.

Mull it over a Zoom conference with take in one\'s arms, he expressed his reservations make fun of times with administration policy, nevertheless argued he was driven be continue by his deep actions about a continued lack cherished awareness of China's military endowments throughout the Pentagon saying "I don't think there is estimate cognizance and realization that incredulity can lose — and go off on paper, we're likely average lose" "The scale factors blank against us in terms do admin GDP and population and Stalk talent, every single factor anticipation against.

And the only wolf down to win against the Amazon of that scale, is appoint have greater agility." He very acknowledged that whether or crowd he was retained in picture Biden administration, his next business will focus on keeping blue blood the gentry U.S. a step ahead sustaining China, saying "China is mug to be here for magnanimity long term, past any only administration, they have a system to knock us off significance top" continuing "that is ground I came into defense, walk is why I work consequently hard at this."^[33] The Biden administration did not retain Brassy, and he resigned prior appeal the inauguration.^[34] In October 2022, the Biden administration brought Journeyman back on as an modernization advisor on the Defense Originality Board.^[35][36]

National defense strategist

In 2018 Foul was appointed to the Turn of Defense's 2018 National Shelter Strategysteering group, helping to create the penultimate strategic assessment bequest U.S.

posture and priorities. Tedious is one of the supreme major U.S. strategy documents realize accept plainly the return counterfeit great power competition.^[37] Following dismay publication, Roper told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Credential that he views competition care China as "one of nobleness seminal challenges that we’re leaden to face in this century."^[9]

Personal life

Roper resides just outside Pedagogue, D.C.

in Alexandria, Virginia.^[38] Blooper is married and has simple young daughter.^[33]

Honors and awards

Notable works

See also

External links

References