James “Hondo” Geurts at the commissioning ceremony of USS Tulsa. (File)
This report was updated 12:13 p.m. ET to clarify the timing of Geurts’s departure from the Navy.
WASHINGTON: James “Hondo” Geurts, the former Navy acquisition chief, will join an advisory board for the Silicon Valley Defense Group, his first job since leaving government in August 2021, according to an announcement from the company today.
Geurts, a career airman, was recruited to lead Navy acquisition programs by then-Sec. Richard Spencer shortly after Spencer was confirmed in July 2017. At that time, Geurts was best known for his time as acquisition executive for US Special Operations Command.
“At both SOCOM and the Navy he has been an innovator and leader in getting the best technology into the hands of the warfighters faster. He brings an insider’s knowledge with an outsider’s push for getting results,” said Mac Thornberry, formerly a top House Republican lawmaker and now a member of SVDG’s advisory board.
The post is Geurts’ first private role since leaving government, according to SVDG. SVDG is a non-profit group that says it “seeks to engage and motivate dual-use innovators and venture capitalists to support a broad mandate for defense innovation.”
Despite the turmoil faced by Spencer and his former No. 2, Thomas Modly, Geurts remained popular in Washington, D.C. defense circles throughout his tenure in the Navy. But as a Trump administration appointee, his departure announcement in August was not unexpected given President Joe Biden’s Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro was on the verge of being confirmed by the Senate. Geurts officially left the Pentagon at the end of the month, following Del Toro’s confirmation.
In a handwritten note posted to LinkedIn in August, Guerts wrote, “It has been an incredible honor to serve the country for all of these years in uniform, as a government civilian, and as an appointee.”
While Del Toro is now confirmed as Navy secretary, the under secretary and acquisition chief’s seats remain filled by acting officials.
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