Jerry Cothran

Jerry Cothran is a recognized subject matter expert in Defense Logistics & Sustainment, with a primary focus on Performance Based Logistics (PBL) and performance based contracting. He most recently performed as a Senior Manager in Logistics Engineering for Lockheed Martin Corporation, where he was a Corporate focal point for providing logistics & sustainment advice, guidance, and support across the company. Formerly, he held responsibility for developing and managing the delivery of Logistics training for the corporation. He is widely recognized as one of the pre-eminent experts in the area of Performance-Based Logistics (PBL), with frequent speaking engagements, articles, and assistance to both public and private sector organizations on PBL-related topics.

With a federal career spanning over 30 years, Jerry has held a range of key leadership positions in the Military Departments and Office of the Secretary of Defense in both Acquisition and Logistics. Jerry served as Program Director for PBL at Defense Acquisition University, developing DoD PBL training courses and has been a principal advisor to DoD on PBL policy and guidance. In addition, Jerry has extensive hands-on experience in DoD Depot Maintenance and associated Logistics activities. He

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Jerry was a faculty member and research associate of the University of Tennessee’s College of Business Administration Center for Executive Education on the topic of Performance Based Logistics. In that capacity he taught the University’s 4 day PBL course and related focused PBL workshops in PBL implementation and PBL business strategy development.

Jerry holds a degree in Business Management from Texas State University and an MPA from Auburn University, and is level 3 certified in Life Cycle Logistics with the Department of Defense.

Specialties: Performance-Based Logistics, Defense Logistics, Supply Chain Management, DoD policy, DoD contracting, DoD statutes (Title 10 USC), Public-Private Partnering