Aerospace Industries Association
Richard Sylvester
Vice President, Acquisition Policy
Aerospace Industries Association
Richard Sylvester, Vice President, Acquisiton Policy, joined the Aerospace Industries Association in August of 2009. Heading AIA’s Procurement and Finance division and Environment, Safety and Health department, he is responsible for directing the development and coordination of the Association’s positions on proposed procurement and environment-related legislation, regulations, and their implementation.
Sylvester served in the Defense Department in a number of capacities for 35 years prior to joining AIA, most recently as deputy director of Acquisition Resources and Analysis (Acquisition Management) in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. He was responsible for the development of acquisition strategies, program baselines, acquisition decision memoranda and property management of military equipment.
While deputy director of acquisition resources and analysis Sylvester led a Joint Analysis Team of nine senior government analysts and three contractor representatives in developing recommendations to improve the efficiency of acquisition program decision forums. Working with the Undersecretary of Defense for the Comptroller and the military departments, Sylvester also created the first financial reporting baseline for DoD’s military equipment and a methodology for depreciating equipment based on operating tempo.
Sylvester graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of arts in political science and economics.
Sylvester began his career in defense acquisition with the U.S. Army Materiel Command and later served in an array of increasingly responsible positions in Europe and in the Pentagon, including deputy director for defense procurement and acquisition policy (Acquisition Workforce and Career Management) and deputy director for acquisition resources and analysis (Property and Equipment Policy). Sylvester served a year as a legislative fellow working for Senator Carl Levin (D-MI).
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.