Biden taps former USAF buyer to lead DOD acquisition

Dr. William LaPlante, then Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, takes questions at a 2015 press conference, flanked by Gen. Robin Rand (left) and Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch Jr. (U.S. Air Force photo/Scott M. Ash)

The White House has nominated former Air Force acquisition chief William LaPlante to be the Pentagon’s top buyer.

The announcement comes after Mike Brown, the director of the Defense Innovation Unit, who was previously nominated to be the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment in April, withdrew his bid for the position months later amid an ongoing inspector general investigation.

LaPlante served as the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition during the Obama administration before joining MITRE, where he was a senior executive and oversaw operations for two federally funded research and development centers.

Most recently, LaPlante was named to the board of trustees for the Aerospace Corporation and runs the emerging technology and research firm Draper Laboratory as its president and CEO.

The former Air Force acquisition chief also helped comb through the Defense Department’s acquisition policies as a commissioner on the congressionally mandated Section 809 Panel, which released its final report in 2019.

LaPlante also previously worked for 26 years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and led its global engagement department.