The Honorable Claude M. Bolton, Jr. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology

The Honorable Claude M. Bolton, Jr. was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASAALT) on January 2, 2002.

In this position, Mr. Bolton serves as the Army Acquisition Executive, the Senior Procurement Executive, and the Science Advisor to the Secretary. He also serves as the senior research and development official for the Department of the Army. His responsibilities as ASAALT include appointing, managing and evaluating Program Executive Officers and Program Managers, managing the Army Acquisition Corps, and overseeing research, development, test, evaluation, and acquisition programs.

Formerly, Mr. Bolton was Commander of the Air Force Security Assistance Center, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He managed foreign military sales programs with totals exceeding $90 billion that support more than 80 foreign countries. As AFMC’s center of excellence for international affairs, his responsibilities also included managing the command’s international cooperative programs and its foreign disclosure policy.

Mr. Bolton received his commission in the Air Force in 1969 through the University of Nebraska’s Air Force ROTC program, where he was honored as a distinguished graduate. He has served in a variety of positions during his career. These include squadron and wing safety officer, instructor pilot, wing standardization and evaluation flight examiner, scheduler, test pilot and acquisition professional. He is a command pilot with more than 2,700 flying hours in more than 30 different aircraft. During the Vietnam War he flew 232 combat missions, 40 over North Vietnam. He was a test pilot for the F-4, the F-111, and the F-16, and the first program manager for the Advanced Tactical Fighter Technologies Program, which evolved into the F-22 System Program Office.

During his tour at the Pentagon, he was the F-16 program element monitor and also saw duty in the Office of Special Programs. He was the deputy program director for the B-2 System Program Office, program director for the Advanced Cruise Missile System Program Office, then inspector general for Air Force Materiel Command. He also served as commandant of the Defense Systems Management College, as special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, and as director of requirements at AFMC headquarters. He also served as the program executive officer for Air Force fighter and bomber programs with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.