Rear Admiral Steve Kunkle, USN (Ret.)

Rear Admiral (Lower) Steve Kunkle, USN (ret) is the president of Kunkle & Associates, LLC, a defense consulting company in Alexandria, Virginia.  Following a 30 year career in the Navy Steve retired in 2003, working for the next 5 years for ARES Corporation in Crystal City, VA as director of their Defense and Homeland Security Programs.  Steve was a career Naval Aviator in the Light Attack and Strike Fighter communities.  He held command positions at the Squadron, Carrier Air Wing, and Carrier Strike Group level.  In addition he held flag positions as Director of Operations, Plans/Policy, and Training, US Pacific Fleet, and as Deputy Commander, Joint Task Force Southwest Asia. 

Steve has extensive experience in all facets of maritime operations, requirements definition and planning, PPBE, and defense acquisition.  In addition his business expertise includes, business capture and proposal development, project management, program assessment, and critical infrastructure protection. 

Steve is a 1973 graduate of the US Naval Academy with a BS in Mathematics, and an MS in Administration from Central Michigan University.