Patrick Mason currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation (DASA (DE&C)). He is the Army principal responsible for Security Assistance and armaments cooperation, export policies, direct commercial sales of Army defense articles, and international cooperative research, development, and acquisition. These programs employ over 3100 Army Soldiers and Civilians and exceed
$15B annually in sales and cooperative efforts with over 150 foreign countries.
Prior to arriving at DASA (DE&C), he had served as the Deputy Program Executive Officer for Aviation and as the PEO for Aviation since 2017. Previously, Mr. Mason was the Chief of Staff for the Aviation Development Directorate of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center. In this capacity he supported execution of the Army’s $1.2 billion aviation science and technology investment portfolio. Earlier, he was the Director of the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center and oversaw a 1,200- person reimbursable workforce in the execution of developmental testing for aviation, missile, and sensor systems.
Mr. Mason has also served as the Project Manager, Technology Applications Program Office, U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command. In this position, he directed the life cycle management of Army Special Operations rotary wing aircraft and associated mission systems supporting the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). In 2008, he was one of eight individuals selected from across DoD to serve as a Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellow.
His other acquisition positions include Deputy Program Manager, CH-53K; Director, Flight Test Directorate, U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center; and Chief, Rapid Prototyping and Integration, U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. Mason began his acquisition career after graduating from the Naval Test Pilot School and served as an experimental test pilot supporting both Army and Special Operations aircraft development programs.
Mr. Mason’s education includes a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology; a Master of Aeronautical Engineering (with Distinction) from the Naval Postgraduate School, the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (Distinguished Graduate), and the U.S. Army War College. He was selected as the 2013 Army Project Manager of Year for his work with U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation and has received “Best Paper Awards” by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the American Helicopter Society. He was awarded the Robert N. Turk Award in 2002 for his efforts in advancing Army engineering flight tests.