Mr. Kenneth Gantt

Deputy Director, Biometrics Identity Management Agency

Mr. Kenneth D. Gantt assumed his duties as the Deputy Director, Operations of the Army G-3/5/7 Biometrics Identity Management Agency (BIMA) on July 19, 2010. He is also the Site Manager for BIMA offices in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

As the Deputy Director of Operations, he is responsible for the global matching, storing and sharing operations that the DoD Automated Biometric Identification System provides to the warfighter. He oversees the long-term development of a friendly system that will integrate business processes and functions across multiple disciplines in support of force protection. He also provides oversight for metrics and evaluation activities, concept and technology initiatives and coordinates support to military operations.

Prior to his assignment as the Deputy Director of Operations, Mr. Gantt was the Strategic Integration Division Chief at the BIMA. In that capacity, he led the concept development, planning, coordination and execution of the organization's first Biometrics Collaboration Forum, which is now an annual event. He provided command-level briefings and facilitated discussions involving numerous senior leaders and groups in support of informing and educating personnel on biometrics and the organization. As the Acting Chief of the Operations Support Division, Mr. Gantt coordinated across the Service departments to integrate and synchronize support in the employment of biometrics-enabled and forensics-enabled military operations and business functions, thereby monitoring and assessing the operational efficacy of those operations and functions. Mr. Gantt provided guidance and direction in formulating concepts that would improve biometrics training, which was then taken on by Joint Forces Command to institutionalize training across the Services. He guided the further institutionalization of biometrics within the Army and DoD by overseeing the development of a congressional staffing packet for a Field Operating Agency proposal and to that end, was instrumental in the Biometrics Task Force re-designation as the BIMA. At the time this assignment Mr. Gantt was overseeing the review and revision of DoD Biometrics Strategic documents and the establishment of metrics to better gauge the health of DoD Biometrics.

A (Retired) Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army, Mr. Gantt commanded a Field Artillery Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom with the Third Infantry Division and has held command and staff positions at varying levels during his career. His assignments have included; Strategic Planner, Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army; Chief of the Combat Plans Branch, U.S. Forces in Japan; Battalion Executive Officer and Operations Officer, First Cavalry Division; Middle East Political-Military Analyst, Defense Intelligence Agency; and UN Military Observer, UN Truce Supervision Organization in the Middle East. He has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with “Valor” Device, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

Mr. Gantt received a B.A. in Political Science from John Carroll University in 1983, and earned a Master’s Degree in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University in 1994.

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