Assistant Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
David Ferrari serves as the DSCA Assistant Director (AD) for Strategy, Plans, and Policy (SPP), where he has responsibility over all Security Cooperation planning activity within the Agency. His portfolio includes Building Partner Capacity planning using the Significant Security Cooperation Initiative process, designing programs to meet required partner capabilities. He is also responsible for incorporating strategic initiatives into Security Cooperation, including Climate Resiliency; Women, Peace, and Security; Cybersecurity; and Space, among others. As AD SPP, he has oversight of all Foreign Military Sales (FMS) policy development, including the Security Assistance Management Manual, multinational FMS, and DSCA efforts to project partner nation FMS demand.
Mr. Ferrari is a native of Deer Park, New York. After graduating from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1992, he began his Security Cooperation career with Veda, Inc., supporting the United States Naval Air Systems Command, E-2/C-2 Program Office (PMA-231) while earning his Master’s Degree in National Security, also from Georgetown, in 1996. In 1998, he joined the consulting practice of KPMG Peat Marwick, providing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and International Armaments Cooperation support to various clients, including the United States Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the United States Air Force Security Assistance Center. He was promoted to Senior Manager in 2000 and led the firm’s FMS/Security Cooperation business unit, with 35 professionals and more than $5 million in annual revenue. In 2009, he joined Deloitte Consulting and contributed to a firm-wide business development strategy anticipating the shift to International Financial Reporting Standards in various markets in North and South America.
Mr. Ferrari joined the civil service in 2011, serving as the Deputy Director and then Director of the NAVSEA International Security Assistance Office (ISAO). While at ISAO, he had direct oversight of $30 billion in FMS operations and responsibility over $70 million in FMS Administrative and Contract Administrative Services budgets. He also served as an instructor for the NAVSEA FMS Case Management Excellence program. In 2016, he joined the International Armaments Cooperation team in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) as a Country Desk Officer where he was responsible for international armaments cooperation across his portfolio of partner nations. He joined DSCA in 2017 in the Chief Performance Office, where he was responsible for developing functional requirements across the Security Cooperation enterprise for future Foreign Military Sales case execution automation before becoming Chief of Staff in 2020, with responsibility over Front Office operations, strategic communications, and legislative affairs, until his appointment as AD SPP in November 2022.