Garrett Heath, a graduate of the United States Military Academy (USMA), Garrett was commissioned in the Field Artillery and served in operational assignments with the 24th Infantry Division, 1st Armored Division, and 1st Infantry Division in Germany and at Fort Riley, Kansas. He also taught as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at USMA before transitioning to Operations Research Analyst as a Lieutenant Colonel. His assignments also took him to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, with fellowships in between as a RAND Arroyo Research Fellow at the RAND Corporation and a Chief of Staff to the Army Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses. While at RAND, he developed the Artillery Portal, a dynamic combat analysis capability that earned him an Army Knowledge Management Award for Battlefield Initiative.
Garrett went on to serve as Studies, Analysis, and Gaming Division Chief; Director for Capabilities Development in the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan; and Resource Analysis Division Chief at the Center for Army Analysis. He retired as a Colonel after 30 years of Army service and joined the Institute for Defense Analyses as a Research Staff Member before moving into his present position. In 2023 he was part of a team recognized with the GEN William G.T. Tuttle, Jr. Award for Business Acumen in Defense and Government.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science in Operations Research and Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. He is a graduate of the Army’s Cost Management Certificate course and a certified Lean/Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and he has served as an examiner for both the National Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and the U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award for Virginia.
Garrett lives in Lorton, Virginia, with his wife, Lisa, a school counselor.