WASHINGTON — The director of the Pentagon’s innovation hub will resign in September, a Department of Defense spokesman confirmed.
Michael Brown, head of the Defense Innovation Unit, informed the department on April 27 he would resign when his term ends Sept. 2, Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman told Defense News Friday. Politico first reported his resignation.
Brown has served as DIU director since 2018, pushing changes to DoD’s budgeting process and advocating for greater adoption of commercial technology. Politico reported he is leaving due to “glaring weakness in modernizing DoD,” citing an email Brown sent to coworkers last week.
Gorman said in a statement that Brown’s leadership has led to “impressive” success within DIU, adding that the department “will continue to support DIU’s momentum of changing processes, scaling commercial technologies across the department and strengthening the national security innovation base.”
“DOD is invested in finding the next talented DIU director who can bring the level of leadership and experience needed at this intersection of technology and national security,” Gorman added.
Meanwhile, the DoD Inspector General is investigating Brown for alleged misuse of contract authorities and federal hiring regulations. The investigation caused Brown last summer to withdraw his nomination to be the Pentagon’s acquisition chief.
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges.
