John B Johns
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Maintenance Policy & Programs

Mr. Johns is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Maintenance. In this position, he is responsible for oversight of the Department’s annual $90 billion maintenance program.

In 2010, Mr. Johns served in Iraq as Director, Training and Advisory Mission, Iraqi Ministry of Defense, and Director, Iraqi Security Forces Logistics where he was responsible for both the full range of advisory and training functions required to establish governance of Iraqi Defense operations, as well as, develop the logistics infrastructure and processes to maintain readiness of both conventional military forces and police forces.

In past assignments, Mr. Johns has served the Army and Navy in technology development, engineering, program management, and logistics positions. His assignments with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command included Associate Director for Systems, Aviation Research, Development, and Engineering Center where he was responsible for the provision of engineering support to all Army Aviation systems, Principal Assistant Deputy for Systems Acquisition where he was responsible for lifecycle management of over 20 Army aviation, missile, and ground systems with an annual budget of approximately one billion dollars, and Deputy Commander for Systems Support where he managed overhaul and maintenance, or RESET, of all aviation and missile systems redeployed from Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as Special Assistant to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command from July 2004 to August 2005. In August 2005, he joined the Navy as a member of the Senior Executive Service as the Director of Industrial Operations, Naval Air Systems Command, and Deputy Commander of Fleet Readiness Centers, Naval Air Forces where he was responsible for naval aviation maintenance operations across six subordinate commands, with a workforce of over 14,000 personnel and an operating budget of approximately four billion dollars, and oversaw annual maintenance and repair of over 600 aircraft, 7500 engines and modules, and 500,000 components and support equipment.

Mr. Johns holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State University and a Master's in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue. He is also a graduate of the National Security Management Program, National Defense University.