John Cooper, SVP of Global Government and Defense at AAR

John Cooper is the senior vice president of global government and defense at AAR, an independent aviation services provider based in Wood Dale, Illinois.

Cooper assumed his current role in October 2019. He handles the planning and execution of AAR’s strategies for the government and defense sectors.

Concurrently, he leads his own consultancy firm, John B. Cooper Consulting, according to his LinkedIn profile.

A military veteran, Cooper joined the private sector after serving in the U.S. Air Force.

During his stint as wing commander, he was involved in the overhaul of more than 300 aircraft and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles annually. He also advanced the maintenance of landing gears, avionics components and other commodities.

At one point in his career, he was the logistics director for the Air Force. The role put him in charge of strategic planning for materiel and equipment management, fuels, vehicle management and operations, distribution, personal property and passenger traffic management.

He is knowledgeable in military operations, government contracting, operational planning, national security, logistics management, information assurance, aircraft maintenance, electronic warfare, systems engineering and force protection.

Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from The Citadel, a public college in Charleston, South Carolina. He also has a master’s degree in management from Webster University and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the Air War College.