Air Force deputy CIO transitioning to new role overseeing highly classified programs

The Department of the Air Force’s Deputy Chief Information Officer Winston Beauchamp will move into a new position on Monday where he will oversee the DAF’s most classified information, programs and capabilities.

Beauchamp has been tapped as the new director of security, special program oversight and information protection within the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. In this role, he will be responsible for the Air and Space Forces’ special access programs (SAP) — a security protocol given to highly classified programs within the Defense Department — personnel security and declassification issues, Beauchamp told DefenseScoop in an email.

Notably, the Security, Special Program Oversight and Information Protection office is set to become part of the new Office of Competitive Activities by October. That organization is one of several new ones being stood up as part of the Department of the Air Force’s broad plan to reorganize for large-scale conflicts in the future, and will combine multiple disparate efforts to oversee and coordinate sensitive activities under one roof.

Beauchamp has served as the DAF’s deputy CIO since December 2020, where he assisted in leading the department’s directorates responsible for enterprise IT, data, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. He provided insights that informed the Air Force’s IT investment strategy and modernization efforts related to cloud computing, data management and more.

“Winston has been the steady hand and seen the Office of the CIO through significant change, always keeping the organization on track,” DAF CIO Venice Goodwine said in a message to the workforce announcing Beauchamp’s departure. “He has been instrumental in the DAF’s digital transformation efforts, in right sizing the POM (5-year budget), in the standup of the US Space Force, integration of the office of the Chief Data and AI Office into the DAF CIO family, and more recently on reoptimizing for Great Power Competition.”

Jennifer Orozco — current director of the Security, Special Program Oversight and Information Protection office — will serve as the new deputy CIO for the Department of the Air Force beginning Monday, Beauchamp said.

As the DAF continues to work on modernizing its IT enterprise, Beauchamp told DefenseScoop the most pressing challenges moving forward will be the adoption of a zero-trust cybersecurity framework, as well as delivery of the Base Infrastructure Modernization program. The $12.5 billion effort looks to overhaul and modernize existing base area network infrastructure across the department.