Jason A. Dechant

Jason A. Dechant serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Schar School of Policy and Government, where he teaches about international security policy and national institutions and the policy process. His areas of interest include defense resource management, organizational effectiveness, and decision-making methods.

Dechant is a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in the Strategy, Forces, and Resources Division. At IDA, he leads studies on topics ranging from defense resource management and organizational effectiveness to risk assessment methodologies. Dechant has contributed to the development of and later led a human-in-the-loop training simulation for senior leaders in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and former Soviet states. He also has led sponsored research for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and others across the U.S. government. Currently, Dechant leads the organizational effectiveness research portfolio. On behalf of the U.S. government, he also advises foreign partners in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Chile, and elsewhere on strategic planning and resource management in the defense establishment.

Early in his career, Dechant served as special assistant for strategy in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the Department of Defense. While there, he drafted force development guidance and reviewed operational war plans.

Dechant received his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University, his master’s degree from the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky, and his doctoral degree at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy (now the Schar School of Policy and Government).