Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has announced the following Department of Defense Senior Executive Service appointments and assignments:
Stephen L. Kitay has been selected for appointment to the Senior Executive Service and for assignment as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Space Policy.
Kitay was most recently a professional staff member on the House Armed Services Committee, where he served as the national security space expert on the multi-billion dollar space budget, policies, and programs, and was responsible for guiding the oversight of Department of Defense intelligence programs.
He served as a U.S. Air Force active duty officer, and is a graduate of Syracuse University and the University of West Florida.
Sergio de la Peña has been selected for appointment to the Senior Executive Service and for assignment as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
de la Peña was most recently CEO of de la Peña Consulting, LLC, where he developed and executed business strategies to strengthen relationships between U.S. businesses and Latin American governments.
He is a retired U.S. Army colonel and a graduate of the University of Iowa, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Inter-American Defense College.
Vayl S. Oxford has been selected for appointment to the Senior Executive Service and for assignment as the director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Oxford was most recently a national security executive policy advisor at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he provided strategic policy advice to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leadership and staff.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology.
