Sessions
Parallel Orbits—Comparing DoW and NASA Financial Approaches for Mission Success
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Tue
From Algorithms to Accountability: AI’s Impact on Financial Management
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Wed
Mr. Dale Smith currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center and possesses more than 30 years of combined military and civilian experience in financial management, digital transformation, resource allocation, and organizational leadership. Before this position, Dale served as Executive Director and senior PPBE subject matter expert in the digital transformation arm of a large defense contractor from 2023-25, where he advised Federal clients on digital transformation efforts in the financial management space. Having been appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2022, Dale served as the Director of Resource Management at the Department of the Army, Office of the G-4 from 2022-23. In this capacity, he led the Sustainment Program Evaluation Group (SS PEG) and managed all logistics and sustainment resources and oversaw the financial performance of the Army’s Organic Industrial Base. From 2018 to 2021, Dale served as DCoS, G-8 for the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), where he led efforts to improve audit readiness, streamline acquisition management, and expand analytic capabilities to support critical Army sustainment programs. Dale also previously served as the Business Manager for Army Contracting Command—Redstone from 2016-18. Dale began his Army career in 1993 serving first as an armor officer before transitioning to comptroller in 2004. Over his 22-year military career, he held a wide range of resource management and leadership positions, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2015. Dale holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy. He has been recognized for both military and civilian service, earning awards including the Army Civilian Superior Service Medal, Army Civilian Meritorious Service Medal, and Bronze Star Medal (1 OLC). Dale was also recognized as AMCOM’s AUSA Civilian Employee of the Year (2016 and 2021).