General (Retired) Gustave F. Perna

Chief Mobility & Supply Chain Officer; COO, Operation Warp Speed, Former Commander of US Army Materiel Command

General (Retired) Gus Perna is the Chief Mobility & Supply Chain Officer at DEFCON AI. He is the Former Commander of US Army Materiel Command. Before retiring in 2021 after 38 years of honorable service, General Perna served as Chief Operating Officer for Operation Warp Speed, helping to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. He previously served as the 19th Commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command, comprised of 190,000 employees. The General’s other command assignments include: Joint Munitions Command; Defense Supply Center Philadelphia; 4th Sustainment Brigade; and 64th Forward Support Battalion. General Perna’s key staff assignments include: senior logistics advisor to the Army Chief of Staff (DAG4; Chief Operating & Logistics Officer of the Army Materiel Command (AMC G3/4); U.S. Forces-Iraq Director of Logistics (J4); Executive Officer to the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency; senior logistics officer (G4) for the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division; and senior readiness officer (G4 Maintenance), 13th Corps Support Command. General Perna is a Distinguished Military Graduate from Valley Forge Military Academy. He earned degrees from the University of Maryland and the Florida Institute of Technology. His awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and many more.