John J. Garstka

Member of the Office of the Secretary of Defense

John Joseph Garstka (born February 20, 1961) is the acting CISO for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense

Garstka is a recognized international speaker and has delivered the Network Centric Warfare message to military and commercial audiences worldwide. In addition, he has lectured at Harvard University, Georgetown University, the University of California at Irvine, University of Maryland, the Army War College, the Air War College, the Naval War College, and the Naval Postgraduate School. Prior to joining the Office of Force Transformation, Garstka was the Chief Technology Officer in the Joint Staff Directorate for Command, Control, Computer and Communications (C4) Systems. In this capacity, he played a key role in the development and conceptualization of network centric warfare and was the Joint Staff lead for the Department of Defense's Report to Congress on Network Centric Warfare. Prior to joining the Joint Staff, Garstka was a Senior Systems Engineer with Cambridge Research Associates, where he had responsibility for leading consulting engagements with commercial and government customers. Before joining Cambridge, Garstka served as an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF) for ten years, with assignments on the Air Staff and at USAF Space and Missile Center.

Garstka was born in Tokyo Garstka is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1983. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University, where he studied as a Hertz Fellow.