Mr. Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, announced Ms. Kristin K. French has been appointed to the position of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. In this capacity, she serves as the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics in the oversight of logistics policies, practices, operations, and efficiencies in support of enhanced readiness to the Warfighter. Her logistics portfolio includes maintenance, materiel readiness, supply chain integration, transportation policy, and program support. She assumed her current position in July 2016.
Ms. French retired from military service as a Brigadier General in November 2015. Prior to becoming Principal Deputy, she served as the Commanding General for the Joint Munitions and Lethality Life Cycle Management Command and the Joint Munitions Command in Rock Island, Illinois. From 2011 to 2013 she served as the Commanding General for 3d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and in April 2012 deployed the unit to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Her 29+ years in uniform included duties in key command and staff positions worldwide, to include tours in the Pentagon, Defense Logistics Agency and Army Materiel Command. Along with her General Officer commands, she commanded Alpha Company, 703d Main Support Battalion, 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), Kitzingen, Germany; Regimental Support Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colorado; and 406th Army Field Support Brigade, Army Sustainment Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Her military service includes combat deployments as the Commanding General, Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan and senior operational logistician in Afghanistan as well as a squadron commander and the senior logistician in western Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She also completed a deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Fox and to Croatia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor.
Ms. French holds a Master of Science degree in Logistics Management from Florida Institute of Technology; and a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. Her military education includes the Quartermaster Officer’s Basic and Advanced Courses and the Logistics Executive Development Course at Fort Lee, Virginia; U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Ms. French has received various personal awards, to include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and two Bronze Star Medals. She is also a Distinguished Member of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Regiment.