Speakers

Leigh E. Method, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment (PTDO ASD(S)). In this capacity, she is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment in overseeing the Department’s $210 billion sustainment enterprise through the conduct of logistics and sustainment policies, procedures, and resourcing to ensure effective support to the warfighter. Her responsibilities encompass sustainment support in the DoD for logistics, maintenance, supply chain, inventory management, distribution, material readiness, weapon system product support, international logistics, logistics workforce development, and commercial support to operations. She officially assumed this role in July 2025.
 
Ms. Method concurrently serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment. Previously, Ms. Method served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics, where she was responsible for the Department’s logistics strategy and policy, supply, storage and distribution, equipment, transportation, commercial support to operations, and supply chain risk management integration.
 
Ms. Method is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel with 24 years of military service. A career logistician, Ms. Method deployed in support of operations Joint Endeavor and Enduring Freedom. She served in various air and ground transportation, logistics, and aircraft maintenance positions. Her last assignment before retirement was as Commander of the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
 
Ms. Method holds a B.A. in Personnel Administration from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. She began her federal civilian service in June 2015 and is also a Certified Professional Logistician.