It’s no surprise that so many Wash100 Award winners in 2025 come from DOD: these public servants drive some of the most critical and transformative initiatives in national security, technology and innovation.
DOD officials shape U.S. defense strategy, cyber resilience and military readiness. Many DOD leaders work closely with their GovCon partners to modernize IT infrastructure and defense capabilities.
The following profiles are of Wash100 Award winners from DOD in 2025 who have demonstrated professional achievement in critical technologies such as AI, cloud computing, zero trust cybersecurity and unmanned systems. Achieving success with these technologies elevates the importance of strategic, secure and innovative government leadership in an era of rapidly evolving global threats.
In no particular order, let’s take a deep dive into these prestigious leaders.
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Gen. Michael Guetlein
Guetlein joined the Wash100 Award club in 2025 for his visionary leadership in advancing space-based innovation and strategic partnerships. Since stepping into his current role in December 2023, he has prioritized integrating AI and machine learning into national security strategies—emphasizing their essential role in anticipating and countering threats quickly through enhanced decision making.
Guetlein has been a strong proponent of investing in space domain awareness. He supports leveraging data from Department of Commerce tracking systems and boosting test, training and command-and-control capabilities to maintain U.S. dominance in space. A key initiative under his leadership is the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve, or CASR, which is designed to harness commercial space capabilities for national defense.
Learn more about the Space Force’s FY 2026 spending priorities directly from Guetlein during his keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Air and Space Summit on July 31 at the Hilton McLean in northern Virginia!
Pete Hegseth
Hegseth earned his first Wash100 Award in 2025 for his deep commitment to boosting combat readiness, modernizing defense operations and championing acquisition reform. Since taking the helm of the DOD, Hegseth has restructured the Office of Net Assessment and streamlined software acquisition.
He’s urged NATO allies to invest more in defense and formed a task force to bolster military strength and innovation. Hegseth has prioritized strengthening partnerships with the defense industrial base to accelerate innovation and maintain U.S. military superiority. Hegseth has also emphasized modernizing legacy systems, increasing investments in AI and expanding capabilities in space and cyber warfare.
Leonel Garciga
Garciga won his second straight Wash100 Award in 2025 for his pivotal role in the Army’s digital modernization and cybersecurity initiatives. Since his appointment as Army CIO in 2023, Garciga has led efforts to enhance the service’s IT infrastructure, focusing on cloud adoption and DevSecOps practices to accelerate software delivery and improve cybersecurity posture.
Garciga in 2024 established a digital center for excellence and implemented a mobile application authorization process to streamline the integration of mobile applications into Army systems. Garciga at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Army Summit in June championed reforming how the Army contracts for IT services, saying service-providing GovCons that typically operate based on hours worked, rather than outcomes achieved, can expect to be targeted for further contracting reform.
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Jane Rathbun
Rathbun is a two-time recipient of the Wash100 Award for her transformative leadership in military IT modernization and cybersecurity. In 2024, Rathbun was recognized for her strategic direction in advancing zero trust architectures, enhancing cyber readiness and integrating commercial technologies to improve the warfighter experience.
Under her leadership as Navy CIO, the service achieved significant milestones, including the formal designation of Naval Identity Services as the enterprise service for identity, credential and access management—critical components of zero trust initiatives. She was instrumental in aligning the Navy’s IT and cyber priorities with the secretary of the Navy’s objectives, advocating for technology modernization and overseeing initiatives in cybersecurity, zero trust and cloud computing.
Rathbun said at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit that the federal government needed to be smart about selling off wireless spectrum to ensure that its warfighters have the spectrum resources required to carry data and information and connect Navy personnel, platforms and systems.
Hear directly from Rathbun on critical Navy IT modernization efforts during her keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on August 26 at the Hilton McLean!
Gen. Chance Saltzman
Saltzman earned his third consecutive Wash100 Award in 2025 for leading efforts to secure and evolve U.S. spacepower. He outlined key priorities for the Space Force: establishing a Space Futures Command, embedding service components with combatant commands, deploying counterspace capabilities, accelerating the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture and expanding launch infrastructure.
He unveiled the Commercial Space Strategy, which seeks to foster seamless integration of commercial satellites and services into military operations via four pillars: transparency, integration, risk management and strategic deployment. Saltzman also launched the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve program to secure private sector satellite access during crises.
Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey
Cropsey earned his first Wash100 Award in 2025 for leading critical modernization efforts. He oversees the Air Force Battle Network—an integrated system-of-systems combining sensors, effectors and logistics across 50-plus programs to support Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, objectives and provide decision advantage for air and space forces.
Cropsey has championed a new integrated product team construct within C3BM to foster horizontal integration and shared mission ownership, enhancing situational awareness and decision-making speed during exercises like Emerald Flag 24‑3. A career USAF officer since 1995, Cropsey’s background spans the National Reconnaissance Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense systems engineering and international security cooperation.
Juan Ramírez
Ramírez made his debut among the esteemed cohort of Wash100 Award winners in 2025 for spearheading the integration of 5G networks across the DOD. He designed and implemented a strategic, secure and scalable framework for departmental 5G adoption. This is key to enabling CJADC2, which aims to synchronize communications across air, land, sea, space and cyber operations.
Under Ramírez’s leadership, the 5G Cross‑Functional Team began deploying private 5G networks to enhance mission-ready connectivity and resilience in contested environments. His vision includes sweeping expansion: Ramírez aims to roll out 5G across all U.S. military bases by 2028 to support mission-critical operations and maintain technological competitiveness.
Ramírez also helped develop an open radio access network, a.k.a. open RAN, strategy and has proposed further open RAN deployments.
David McKeown
McKeown has earned a pair of Wash100 awards for his technical acumen and strategic vision, reinforcing the DOD’s cyber defenses and positioning the military to better counter evolving digital threats. In his current roles performing the duties of the DOD deputy chief information officer for cyber security and chief information security officer, he shapes zero trust architecture—including spearheading the 2027 mandate and rolling out new zero trust overlays—and drives efficient defense IT transformation.
He has championed including weapon platform support systems within zero trust frameworks, recognizing their critical role in the non‑classified and secret IP router networks. McKeown has also reformed Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, processes by introducing third‑party assessments aimed at certifying cloud vendors within three months. McKeown at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Cyber Summit recruited industry to help DOD with IT challenges, including assistance automating the department’s Risk Management Framework.
Maj. Gen. David Stewart
Stewart won his first Wash100 Award for his leadership in advancing unmanned aircraft systems defense and modernization efforts. He is instrumental in DOD’s Replicator initiative, which aims to rapidly field advanced technologies to counter adversary drone threats. Stewart’s approach emphasizes rapid innovation cycles and close collaboration with industry partners to keep pace with adversaries.
Stewart has held command positions at every echelon, from battery to brigade, and formerly led the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command as its commanding general.
Venice Goodwine
Goodwine earned her second Wash100 Award in 2025 for her transformative leadership in advancing AI, cybersecurity, enterprise IT and cloud modernization across Air Force and Space Force networks. In 2024, she led a $17 billion enterprise IT strategy. Her achievements included implementing an IT‑as‑a‑service platform via DevSecOps, migrating workloads to the cloud and supporting around 20,000 cyber and IT personnel worldwide.
Goodwine in 2025 aligned the Headquarters Cyberspace Capabilities Center to the Office of the CIO to enhance service delivery, launched the CloudOne Next initiative with a potential $1.6 billion contract and expanded cloud use to classified and edge environments. She also championed AI programs like NIPRGPT, a large language model-based chatbot to streamline workflow, summarization, and coding support—part of her broader vision to “give time back” to airmen and guardians.
Goodwine in March announced her intent to retire as Air Force CIO in mid-May.
