User:Gregory J/sandbox

John Gregory Vonglis (born August 6, 1961) is a businessman, United States Army Reserve officer, politician, and former senior official with the Department of Defense. His professional experiences encompass positions in the public and private sector including service as a Chief Financial, Chief Operating, and Chief Management Officer. He is currently a Colonel in the United States Army Reserve, having served in the U.S. Army for nearly thirty years SOCOM.

Early Life and Education
Vonglis, an American of Greek descent, was born and raised in New York City. He is a son of Agatha and Gregory Vonglis. His mother, the daughter of a diplomat, worked for a brief period at the Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C. and later, with the Bankers Trust Company in New York. His father owned a series of restaurants in New York and New Jersey. His brother George, is a Managing Partner of a boutique.

Vonglis received BS and MBA degrees from Fordham University and also holds a Master of International Public Policy (MIPP) degree from The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Business Career
Vonglis has served in advisory and line roles as a COO for a new media venture, a CFO for The Thomson Financial Corporation and was Director of Global Finance for the consulting practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. His diverse industry experience includes aerospace, financial services, and high technology firms with a focus on strategy, governance, and risk mitigation.

Public Service
In 2000, Vonglis was the Republican and Conservative Party candidate for the United States House of Representatives from New York’s 18th Congressional District, where he challenged Congresswoman Nita Lowey. 1. UPHILL // 2. News

In 2002 Vonglis was appointed to the Department of Defense by President George W. Bush, where he was tasked with implementing the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), a White House reform initiative designed to make government more efficient and citizen centric. Additionally, he helped to increase the department’s linguistic and cultural expertise leading to the creation of a new U.S. Army Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), “09L: Combat Translator”. Vonglis also reviewed for divestiture the Defense Health Program and the Commissary Agency.

From mid-2004 until April 2009 he served first, as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and then as acting Assistant Secretary of the United States Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller (CFO). In this capacity, he was statutorily responsible for all matters financial of an organization comprised of approximately 700K personnel and an annual budget of $161 billion.

Vonglis led nearly 10,000 professionals deployed throughout the world. He spearheaded numerous transformational initiatives, to include revamping the financial curriculum, establishing a Cost and Economics Center of Expertise, as well as promoting the use of alternative domestic fuels as assured energy sources, fuel hedging, and enhanced use (property) leasing. 3.KEESLER Most notably, Vonglis established the first departmental Shared Services Center: the Air Force Financial Services Center. Located at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, the AFFSC consolidated routine transactions from 93 globally dispersed bases to one, thereby generating over $200M in taxpayer savings. Additionally, Vonglis secured nearly $5 billion for combat lost aircraft and testified before the U.S. Senate on the progress of Business Management Modernization. SD Press// Wartime Mgmt// TESTIMONY 4 - 8

Internationally, Vonglis traveled to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During an official visit to Japan, Vonglis met with that country’s Deputy Defense Minister and its Air Self Defense Force Chief of Staff, General Tadashi Yoshida, who asked that Japan be allowed to purchase F-22 aircraft as a deterrent to regional threats.

Tribute to Public Servants
In another first, Vonglis established three Awards in the Names of Air Force financial community leaders: Senior Executives Robert D. Stuart and James E. Short, and Major General Frank R. Faykes, to be bestowed annually to three deserving recipients.

The A. Ernest Fitzgerald saga

In a formal Pentagon ceremony in 2006, Vonglis retired, with all due honors, the original whistleblower: A. Ernest Fitzgerald, after 50 years’ government service. Fitzgerald exposed to Congress cost overruns on the C-5 Galaxy aircraft program. However, perceived to have violated the chain of command, President Richard M. Nixon in 1969 exclaimed: “…get rid of that son of a bitch.”   In turn, Fitzgerald sued Nixon and the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Fitzgerald was reinstated and protected by Federal Order until his retirement. 9-10                         Chief Management Officer (CMO) for DoD and the Military Services

In 2008 Congress mandated the DoD designate a CMO to focus on management modernization. Given Vonglis’ transformational achievements, Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne designated he serve, simultaneous to his financial responsibilities, as the first Chief Management Officer of the Air Force. NDAA// GOV EXEC

Absent precedent, Vonglis defined the CMO role, which included expanding the authorities of the Under Secretary in the Air Force’s resource allocation process and creating a lessons-learned “Playbook” for the incoming administration. CMO PPT

Obama Transition

Vonglis was one of the few Bush appointees asked to remain temporarily in his position by the transition team of President Barack H. Obama. With the nomination of Dr. Jamie H. Morin as the new Assistant Secretary, Vonglis tendered his resignation effective 29 April 2009. CITATION

Military Service, Voluntary, and Professional Affiliations

Vonglis is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. He was commissioned a 2LT of Infantry through ROTC. Although his entire reserve career has been in Army and Joint special operations, Vonglis also advises the U.S. Army Cyber Institute at West Point, where he has guest lectured. Vonglis is a member of the Reserve Officers Association, Association of the U.S. Army, Air Force Association, American Society of Military Comptrollers, and as a former Eagle Scout, remains active with the Boy Scouts of America.

Personal Life
Vonglis is married to the former Carol Lynn Pabst, a corporate pricing expert. She is a distant relative of the Pabst brewing family. Her father is a 1955 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and her ancestors were among the first Huguenot settlers of New Rochelle, N.Y. in the late 17th century.