Dave Abba
Located In: Virginia
Position: Director
Dave retired from the Air Force in November 2024 as a Major General after more than 29 years on Active Duty. He brings a wealth of leadership experience from the fighter cockpit to driving change at the highest levels of the Department of Defense. He is passionate about sharing his experience to help people and organizations excel and overcome their toughest challenges.
Dave is an accomplished fighter pilot in both the F-15C and F-22A. An award-winning graduate of the Air Force Weapons School in the F-15, he then transitioned to the F-22, commanding at the squadron, group, and wing levels. As a wing commander, Dave led the most complex wing in the Air Force with 74 units in 25 locations across the United States. In that role, he diagnosed the need for, and executed, the wing’s largest reorganization in over 20 years, ensuring the Air Force’s operational test and electronic warfare organizations were optimized to meet future needs.
While serving as the Director of the Air Force F-35 Integration Office, Dave was hand-selected by the incoming Air Force Chief of Staff General CQ Brown to lead his transition team in 2020. Dave co-authored General Brown’s strategic intent paper, Accelerate Change or Lose, which called for urgent action to prepare the service and the nation for the demands of great power competition.
In his last assignment, Dave served as the Director of the Department of Defense Special Access Program Central Office under the authority, direction, and control of the Deputy Secretary of Defense. In this role, Dave successfully led the most significant reform to special access programs and policy in at least a generation. Achieving enduring reform at this scope and scale required a highly collaborative approach with a vast array of stakeholders inside the Department of Defense and with external stakeholders such as the White House, the Congress, and defense industrial base companies.
Dave graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1995 and later earned masters degrees from the College of Naval Command & Staff (with distinction) and the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (distinguished graduate). He is passionate about his family’s success and enjoys coaching hockey in his spare time.