Mr. Drew Walter is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters. In this role, he is responsible for carrying out the Office of Nuclear Matters mission “to ensure the continued credibility, safety, security, resiliency, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent to deter adversaries, assure allies and partners, and achieve U.S. objectives if deterrence fails—today and in the future.” Nuclear Matters is the Department of Defense (DoD) focal point for a wide range of issues related to the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, nuclear counterterrorism, and nuclear counterproliferation.

Before being assigned as DASD(NM), Mr. Walter served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, where he supported efforts to integrate activities across the Department related to nuclear deterrent modernization and sustainment. In 2018, Mr. Walter joined the Department as Principal Director and Senior Advisor in the Office of Nuclear Matters.

Prior to joining DoD, Mr. Walter served as a professional staff member with the Committee on Armed Services in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this role, he was responsible for executing committee activities and oversight regarding all policies, programs, and budgets related to nuclear deterrence, nuclear nonproliferation, naval nuclear propulsion, and nuclear environmental cleanup. These responsibilities included oversight and authorization of over $30 billion in annual funding within the Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Mr. Walter began his career at Sandia National Laboratories, where he was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff. His responsibilities at Sandia included conducting physical security assessments for U.S. nuclear weapons, developing and analyzing new security technologies and security assessment methodologies, and conducting special studies for laboratory executives.

Mr. Walter holds Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering, both from the Rochester Institute of Technology.