Mr. Derek “Dirk” Maurer served as the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance (DASD DC&MA) in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSDP). 

As DASD DC&MA, he oversees the Department’s continuity, mission assurance, and force protection policies and programs. DC&MA develops policies and guidance, providing oversight and leadership support to assure the Department can execute its core military functions, even in the face of emerging asymmetric military threats and severe natural hazards to military personnel, installations, networks, and their supporting critical infrastructure.  DC&MA policy oversight supports to the Secretary of Defense and other senior leaders to integrate a broad range of threat- and component-specific programs, and helps build and maintain effective partnerships with other Federal Departments and the private sector to strengthen the resilience of defense critical infrastructure essential to military operations.

Prior to leading DC&MA, he served as DASD for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction for the OUSDP. In this capacity, he provide policy oversight and guidance to protect U.S. and Allied forces against chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack from state or terrorist actors, as well as the prevention/countering global trafficking in WMD. Mr. Maurer developed policies that helped partner countries build capacity in WMD defense and countermeasures. He represented the Department’s interests on counter proliferation and non-proliferation policy issues, to include the Biological Weapons Convention, Chemical Weapons Convention, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

At the beginning of the Administration, he was responsible for overseeing the confirmation of all Senate-confirmed personnel and worked confirmations on the Presidential Transition team.

As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Defense Support and Civil Authorities during the George W. Bush administration, he was responsible for policy oversight of DoD continuity, crisis management, critical infrastructure protection, domestic anti-terrorism/force protection, cyber security, and defense support of civil authorities programs.

Mr. Maurer has served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Committee on Homeland Security. He also served in the personal offices of Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jim Bunning (R-KY).

Mr. Maurer retired from the Marine Corps Reserve after twenty years, having served in both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom.

He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the Virginia Bar.