Senior Vice President Chris Pierce leads Booz Allen Hamilton’s information assurance (IA) and system security engineering efforts in the western region. A key subject matter expert in assurance initiatives, he also leads the firm’s IA and mission assurance (MA) work supporting the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Mr. Pierce and his team of more than 350 information and mission assurance security professionals deliver risk management, risk and vulnerability assessment, network systems and security, and security technology engineering services to clients in need of tailored requirements, customized solutions and quick yet effective reaction during times of vulnerability compromise. Although based in San Diego, California, he oversees project staff from Alabama to Korea and Japan focused on a wide variety of vital IA and MA initiatives. With his own expertise in threat identification, vulnerability assessment, penetration and vulnerability testing, and system security engineering, Mr. Pierce has provided effective solutions in public key infrastructure (PKI), cryptographic modernization, and other IA environments. He is also a recognized leader in the assurance field for his security experience in social engineering and various security-specific technologies and tools. Mr. Pierce serves a broad range of clients in the U.S. military, federal government, and overseas commercial clients, including the Joint Combatant Commands, U.S. Navy, USAF, NASA, and U.S. Forest Service. His numerous consulting engagements include technical support to Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command Information Systems Security Office, which involved testing and evaluation of fielded systems and integral development of background data to support future information technology and IA initiatives. In addition, Mr. Pierce has delivered process planning support to Information Warfare-Defend (IW-D) focused clients that included planning, task development, and program tracking for testing fielded systems. This planning and support allowed US forces to receive secure and much needed C4ISR systems. Before Mr. Pierce joined Booz Allen in 1997, Mr. Pierce flew C-130 aircraft for the U.S. Navy in support of the U.S. Antarctic Program as a Naval Flight Officer. In addition, he designed, developed and implemented Ethernet topologies for Windows NT networks at Navy commands in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Pierce has lectured on network security and information assurance at conferences across the country, and served as an adjunct instructor at the University of California San Diego for three years, where he taught Microsoft Official Curriculum as well as computer security classwork. He earned an M.S. degree in Business Organizational and Systems Management from the University of La Verne and a B.S. in Oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy.