Mr. Paul Farnan

Mr. Paul Farnan was sworn in as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment on October 4, 2021. Mr. Farnan previously served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment from October 4, 2021 to April 4, 2022.

As the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, he is the principal deputy advisor to the Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff of the Army on all matters related to Installation policy and oversight and the coordination of energy security and management. He is also responsible for policy and oversight of sustainability and environmental initiatives; resource management including design, military construction, and operations and maintenance; Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC); privatization of Army family housing, lodging, real estate, and utilities; and the Army’s Installation Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) programs.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Farnan served at U.S. Northern Command performing COVID response operations. This included deploying in spring 2020 to California, Louisiana, and New York City to assist in the coordination of the medical support the military provided to the citizens of those states. He also was a member of the planning team that wrote DoD’s global pandemic response plan, and in the spring of 2021 deployed to New Jersey to coordinate military teams providing support at the federal vaccination sites in that state.

Mr. Farnan has also served in the operational energy office in the Pentagon and as a senior civilian advisor to the commanding general in Afghanistan where he focused on civil-military cooperation. He has also worked as a senate legislative assistant working on defense and veterans’ issues. Mr. Farnan served on active duty for nine years as a Naval helicopter pilot and continues to serve as an officer in the Naval Reserve.

Mr. Farnan graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He further earned a Master of Arts in Environmental Policy from the University of Denver and a Master of Science in Global Energy Management from the University of Colorado, Denver.