General Wharton has served the Nation for more than three decades and has extensive experience in leadership, technology, acquisition, and logistics. He is currently a public and private sector advisor to numerous industries, universities, and governments. His focus is on technology acceleration in support of national priorities and homeland security. John also serves as Senior Advisor at The Chertoff Group and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In his last military assignment, General Wharton served as Commanding General of the United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) now Combat Capabilities Development Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. There he led 13,800 scientists, engineers, and support personnel at more than 100 global locations controlling 75% of the Army’s R&D budget. Subordinate organizations included: the Army Research Laboratory (Adelphi, MD), the five Army research, development, and engineering centers: Armament (Picatinny Arsenal, NJ); Aviation and Missile (Redstone Arsenal, AL); Communication and Electronic (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD); Soldier Support (Natick, MA); Tank and Automotive (Warren, MI) as well as the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center (Edgewood, MD). While there, he won and led 5 of the 7 President of the United States (POTUS) National Manufacturing Innovative Institutes, a program to stimulate the nation’s economy by rapid technology development and transfer. He also ran the Science, Technology, Education Mathematics (STEM), Educational Outreach Programs (AEOP), HBCU, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for the Army and had over 1,500 cooperative research and development agreements with universities and over 1,000 with industry.
He remains very active in national programs and smart technologies across all sectors to include infrastructure, energy, transportation, agriculture and broadband. Internationally, he advises and develops strategies for countries to position them and assure their economic stability and future. He is widely known in the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and the United Nations for his work in technology solutions in support of humanitarian assistance and sustainable development goals. He is Affiliate Faculty for the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities at George Mason University and on the Flag Officer Advisory Council, the Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab and Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. General Wharton has a degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College at Newport, RI.
