Paul Brinkley
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Paul Andrew Brinkley (born November 15, 1966, in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
) is an American businessman and government official. Brinkley is the co-founder and current CEO of
North America Western Asia Holdings North America Western Asia Holdings (NAWAH) is an investment firm founded in 2011. It was established by Hyatt Hotels executive chairman Thomas Pritzker and former Pentagon official Paul Brinkley to build businesses in the Middle East, Central ...
, an investment and business development firm based in Washington, D.C. Brinkley served as the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under Secretaries of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
and
Robert Gates Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and retained b ...
from 2004 to 2011.


Education

Brinkley attended
Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
, graduating with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in industrial engineering. He later completed part-time doctoral work in operations research at
North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
, before choosing to focus on his professional career. Brinkley has published research on
mathematical modeling A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...
, industrial statistics, and
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
.


Personal life

Brinkley has two children. His daughter, Lindsey Brinkley, is a medical student.


Early business career

Brinkley began his career as an engineer with Northern Telecom Ltd., later
Nortel Networks Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. It was founded in Montreal, Quebec in 1895 ...
. Brinkley and his colleagues received four US patents for his work at Nortel. Brinkley later joined JDS Uniphase Corporation, where he held multiple roles, including Senior Vice President for Supply Chain Management, Senior Vice President for Customer Service and Inside Sales and Chief Information Officer. While at JDS Uniphase, Brinkley served as a member of the international economic development advisory board to the Government of
Fujian Province Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...
in the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.


Department of Defense

Brinkley accepted an appointment as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense in 2004.


Business Transformation Agency

In partnership with Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Financial Management
Thomas Modly Thomas B. Modly (born December 15, 1960) is an American businessman and former government official who served as acting United States Secretary of the Navy from November 24, 2019, to April 7, 2020. He resigned as acting Secretary in the wake of ...
, Brinkley consolidated Department-wide business systems used by the
Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. The DA is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is organized. It is led ...
,
Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was esta ...
and
Department of the Air Force The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on Sep ...
into the
Business Transformation Agency The Business Transformation Agency (BTA) was an organization of the United States Department of Defense responsible for guiding the department's business operations modernization. The BTA was active from 2005 until its closure in 2011. The agency ...
. The work of the Business Transformation Agency was lauded by the
Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...
for streamlining departmental business systems.


Task Force for Business and Stability Operations

In 2006, under the direction of
Deputy Secretary of Defense The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the s ...
Gordon England, Brinkley established the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, charged with restoring normal economic activity in Iraq during widespread conflict in the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
, and to streamline and transform the Department's contracting process and systems in Iraq. While interdepartmental disagreements took place given the nature of the TFBSO's directives, the task force focused on making business development a component of a broader military counter-insurgency. At its peak in Iraq, TFBSO had over 350 professionals deployed in every province of the country, including large numbers of civilian business leaders and agriculture experts from the American private sector and academia. Over 200 international companies visited Iraq as part of the foreign direct investment initiative sponsored by TFBSO, with 80 initiating business activity as a result of their engagement. The Task Force directly facilitated over $8 billion in foreign direct investment. In 2009, the TFBSO began work supporting the United States mission in Afghanistan, placing heavy focus on rapid development of mining resources with a goal of imposing environmental and socially responsible processes for the Afghan government to finance its own security and development. TFBSO also launched aggressive efforts to encourage foreign investment in other sectors, including agriculture and information technology. In addition to its work in Afghanistan and Iraq, TFBSO projects supported the US Embassy in Islamabad and the
United States Africa Command The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM, U.S. AFRICOM, and AFRICOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for ...
in Rwanda and Sudan.


Recognition

Brinkley received the Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian award conferred by the Department of Defense, for his service in establishing and leading the TFBSO. He also received the Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest civilian award conferred by the
Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...
, for his contributions to the stabilization of Iraq. In 2006, he received the Eagle Award, an annual award for the outstanding civilian information technology leader in the federal government, for his work leading defense business modernization. In 2010, Brinkley and four members of his team were meeting with a hotel manager when a powerful car bomb detonated 30 meters from their conference room in downtown Baghdad. The blast destroyed the building's exterior façade and shattered windows, causing numerous casualties. Despite sustaining significant concussive and shrapnel injuries requiring medical care, all five individuals returned to work virtually without interruption under hazardous security conditions. Brinkley and the four task force members received the
Defense of Freedom Medal The Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom is a decoration established to acknowledge civilian employees of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) who are killed or wounded in the line of duty. Description The medal was c ...
, the civilian equivalent of the
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
, in response to this incident.


Resignation

In May 2010, after four years of work in Iraq and Afghanistan, the work of the Task Force was ruled to be outside of the normal role of the Department of Defense under
Title X The Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970 (enacted as 'Title X'' of Public Health Service Act) is the only federal grant program dedicated to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive ...
of the
United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...
. Months of Congressional engagement ensued, with
Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...
Chairman
Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a List of United States senators from Michigan, United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...
and Minority Leader
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
urging Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in writing to retain the TFBSO. Despite their intervention, Congress passed legislation in December 2010 to move the work of TFBSO into the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...
no later than October 2011 and immediately cease its operations in Iraq and Pakistan. The task force experienced subsequent resignations from most of its senior leadership. Citing inability to rebuild a leadership team for a mission limited to a six month term in Afghanistan, Brinkley resigned July 1, 2011, his departure date coinciding with the retirement of Robert Gates.


North America Western Asia Holdings

In October 2011, Brinkley co-founded North America Western Asia Holdings (NAWAH), with
Thomas Pritzker Thomas Pritzker (born June 6, 1950) is an American billionaire heir and businessman. A member of the Pritzker family, he is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pritzker Organization (TPO), which manages the various Pritzker fami ...
serving as co-founder and chairman. According to its mission statement, NAWAH will "respect the history of the nations in which it operates, their culture and their people; commit our own capital to build and sustain great companies; partner equally with regional companies, remaining personally and professionally vested in their long-term success (and will) require our employees, suppliers, and partners operate in a transparent manner, following the highest ethical and international business standards." In October, 2012, NAWAH reached an agreement with the Iraqi government to invest up to $14 million to modernize operations at the Port of Maqal in the city of
Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
, which has been largely inoperable since the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
. In October 2013, NAWAH announced the reopening of the port, marking less than one year during which NAWAH had rebuilt damaged port infrastructure and hired and trained an Iraqi workforce and management team. The port established a modern container terminal in the city center of Basra and provided a needed gateway for commercial goods into the growing Iraqi economy.


Other pursuits


''War Front to Store Front''

Brinkley is the author of ''War Front to Store Front: Americans Rebuilding Trust and Hope in Nations Under Fire'', published in 2014 by Turner Publishing. The book suggests changes to U.S. foreign policy in war-torn nations based on his seven years bridging the internal dynamics of the Pentagon with the conflict-zone realities of energizing international investment in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brinkley presented the book at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...
in February 2014.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkley, Paul United States Department of Defense officials 21st-century American businesspeople Texas A&M University alumni Recipients of the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom 1966 births Living people