Aerospace Industries Association
Jeremiah Gertler
Assistant Vice President, Defense Policy
Aerospace Industries Association
Jeremiah Gertler, Assistant Vice President, Defense Policy, is responsible for developing policies related to the defense budget, military aerospace, industrial base and workforce development, homeland security and R&D.
For five years, Gertler oversaw the entire defense procurement budget, missile defense, and other matters on the professional staff of the House Committee on Armed Services. Subsequently, as senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, he was principal author or co-author of major reports on Department of Defense reform and missile defense, and initiated studies on reserve component roles and missions, systems acquisition, military logistics, and Special Forces aviation.
Gertler was extensively involved in the 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review while in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He was senior analyst for the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission during its 1995 round, and earlier served as military legislative assistant to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Gertler began his career in 1984 as a national security analyst with the RAND Corporation.
He graduated from Amherst College, the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, and the United States Naval War College.
An award-winning writer, Gertler’s commentaries have appeared in Defense News, Naval Institute Proceedings, Air Force magazine, and the Washington Post, among others, and on national television and radio. He has also written many speeches, op-eds, and other public policy statements for members of Congress and Administration officials, and is principal author of a popular book explaining the defense establishment for laypeople.
Founded in 1919, the Aerospace Industries Association represents the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial systems, space systems, aircraft engines, materiel, and related components, equipment services, and information technology.