David Ochmanek

David Ochmanek is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Development. Prior to joining the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he was a senior defense analyst and director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program for Project Air Force at the RAND Corporation, where he worked from 1985 until 1993, and again from 1995 until 2009. From 1993 until 1995, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy.

Prior to joining RAND, Mr. Ochmanek was a member of the Foreign Service of the United States, serving from 1980 to 1985 in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, U.S. Embassy Bonn, and the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs. From 1973 to 1978, he was an officer in the United States Air Force.

He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown and George Washington Universities.

Mr. Ochmanek is the author of numerous publications, including:

The Challenge of Nuclear-Armed Regional Adversaries (with Lowell H. Schwartz), RAND, 2008.

A New Division of Labor: Meeting America’s Security Challenges Beyond Iraq (with Andrew R. Hoehn et al), RAND, 2007.

Military Operations Against Terrorist Groups Abroad: Implications for the United States Air Force, RAND, 2003.

The Real and the Ideal: Essays on International Relations in Honor of Richard H. Ullman (editor, with Anthony Lake), Rowman and Littlefield, 2001.

NATO's Future: Implications for U.S. Military Capabilities and Posture, RAND, 2000.

To Find and Not To Yield: How Information and Firepower Can Transform Theater Warfare (with Ted Harshberger, et al), RAND, 1998.

"Rethinking U.S. Defense Planning," in Survival, Spring 1997 (with Zalmay Khalilzad).

Strategic Appraisal 1997: Strategy and Defense Planning for the 21st Century (editor, with Zalmay Khalilzad), RAND, 1997.

The New Calculus: Analyzing Airpower's Changing Role in Joint Theater Campaigns, RAND, 1993 (with C. J. Bowie, et al).

Next Moves: An Arms Control Agenda for the 1990’s, The Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 1989 (with Edward L. Warner III).

Jennifer Zakriski

Ms. Jennifer Zakriski is the Principal Director, Force Development, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Development.   

Since 2000, Ms. Zakriski has held several positions covering a variety of responsibilities and missions throughout the Department of Defense.  Beginning in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, she managed acquisition planning and oversight of chemical and biological defense programs. 

She served as a program manager at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in countering weapons of mass destruction program, developing technologies and capabilities to detect, track and collect WMD materials using UAV platforms.  She also was as a staff officer in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Operations, G-3/5/7, in the future war fighting directorate, and eventually served as branch chief for force protection. 

Upon entering the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Ms. Zakriski has worked in the Special Operations/Counter-Terrorism, Force Transformation, and currently, Force Development offices.  

Ms. Zakriski has served as Chief of Staff for the Guidance of Development of the Force and the Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review, and as the Executive Secretary of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.  

Prior to joining DOD, Ms. Zakriski was a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, first on Russian democratization and economic transition projects, and later in the Political-Military department.   

Ms. Zakriski holds a graduate degree in Security Policy from the George Washington University, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago.