{"id":61349,"date":"2018-08-02T18:47:47","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T18:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/02\/meet-the-new-head-of-the-pentagons-strategic-tech-office\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:33:17","slug":"meet-the-new-head-of-the-pentagons-strategic-tech-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/08\/02\/meet-the-new-head-of-the-pentagons-strategic-tech-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the new head of the Pentagon\u2019s strategic tech office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon\u2019s Strategic Capabilities Office has a new director<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Shank, a former Air Force officer who has held a number of jobs in both the administrative and congressional branches of government, has been selected by Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin<\/a> to take over the department\u2019s SCO unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Griffin and Shank share a history. Shank served as director of strategic investments at NASA from 2005-2009, the same period Griffin ran the space agency. Per a recently uploaded Pentagon biography<\/a>, he was responsible for the formulation and defense of the agency\u2019s $17 billion worth of programs and institutional budgets; he later took over legislative and public affairs for the space agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving NASA, Shank worked at Honeywell on development efforts for military, intelligence, civil and commercial space businesses. Afterward, he served on the staff of Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, before becoming policy director for the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\t