The Department of the Air Force (DAF) has tapped Scott Heitmann to serve as its permanent chief technology officer (CTO) after serving as acting CTO for the past year.
“I’m both humbled and excited to post that the DAF has made the promotion official,” Heitmann said in a LinkedIn post. Heitmann stepped into the acting role in June 2024, following the departure of former Air Force CTO Jay Bondi in October.
As acting CTO, Heitmann led key cybersecurity and modernization initiatives across the DAF, including the “Shrink the AFNET” effort to pave the way for zero trust adoption. He also implemented a device direct-patching initiative that saved the Air Force 220,000 man-days and $20 million in annual contract costs, according to his biography.
A longtime civil servant with the DAF, Heitmann brings nearly three decades of experience to the role. He began his career in 1996 with the 38th Engineering Installation Wing at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
Over the years, he has held a range of technical and leadership positions, including network administrator, information system security officer, systems telecommunications engineering manager, network systems engineer, and special missions team commander.