The Creative Defense Foundation (CDF) announces that Rebecca Gassler has joined as Executive Director of the National Security Prototype to Production Consortium (NSPPC) on September 8, 2026. In this role, she leads the consortium’s operations, membership growth, and industry engagement.

Gassler joins CDF from the Department of the Navy, where she most recently served as the first portfolio acquisition executive for robotics and autonomous systems. She previously served as Deputy Director of Project Overmatch, the Navy’s contribution to Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), and as Acting Executive Director of Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS). She began her career at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

“NSPPC exists to move the best ideas from prototype to production faster, and that takes a leader who has done it from the inside. Rebecca has spent her career fielding complex capabilities at speed, and she understands both the urgency of the mission and what it takes to get there. We’re thrilled to have her leading the consortium,” said Richard Carroll, Chairman and Founder of the Creative Defense Foundation and the NSPPC.

“The companies building tomorrow’s capabilities need a clear, fast path to production. NSPPC is built to provide exactly that. I’m excited to help our members bring plug-and-play, composable solutions forward and to grow a consortium that makes it easier for innovative companies of every size to contribute to national security,” said Gassler.

Gassler joined as NSPPC opened membership, which drew more than 80 applications in its first week.

About the Creative Defense Foundation
The Creative Defense Foundation is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit that fosters engagement between national security agencies, Congressional leaders, and America’s top intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs to build a highly efficient, technologically advanced national security ecosystem and workforce. Learn more at creativedefense.org.

About the NSPPC
The National Security Prototype to Production Consortium (NSPPC) is an Other Transaction (OT) fast lane where mission problems enter, composable solutions compete, and every award strengthens the next. Established by the Department of the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office and available to the Department of War, the NSPPC is managed by the Creative Defense Foundation and supported by the Creative Defense Network. Learn more at nsppc.org.

Contact:
nsppc@creativedefense.org