Dr. Dean L. Bartles
Vice President & General Manager of Large Caliber Ammunition Ordnance and Tactical Systems Division
Dr. Dean L. Bartles is Vice President and General Manager of the Large Caliber Ammunition Strategic Business Unit for the Ordnance and Tactical Systems Division of General Dynamics Corporation (“GDC”). GDC, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 82,900 people and anticipates 2007 sales of approximately $27 billion. The company has leading market positions in business aviation, information systems, shipbuilding and marine systems, and land and amphibious combat systems.
In 1978, Dr. Bartles was employed with Fairchild Republic Company in Hagerstown, MD where he served as an Assistant Program Manager on the A-10 attack aircraft program for the U.S. Air Force. Dr. Bartles was responsible for “spares” and “retrofit kits” for fielded aircraft, as well as Engineering Change Proposal implementation on production aircraft.
In 1983, Dr. Bartles joined General Defense Corporation as Program Manager for the Egypt and Turkey “co-production” projects. His responsibilities included the management and oversight of facility installation, technology transfer, training, and prove-out of tank ammunition manufacturing lines in Egyptian and Turkish government-owned factories.
In 1986, Dr. Bartles was promoted to Director of International Programs and Contracts. His responsibilities included all procurement, bid and proposal, contract negotiation and administration, program management, and advertising for the International Division. General Defense was acquired by Olin Corporation in 1988, where Dr. Bartles continued managing the above operations.
In 1989, Dr. Bartles was made Program Director for Olin Ordnance and was responsible for the management and execution of all international programs. In 1992, Dr. Bartles was given the additional responsibility of International Marketing. In 1995, Dr. Bartles was appointed Director of Business Development for the Tank Ammunition Strategic Business Unit (“SBU”) with responsibilities including all domestic marketing and business development of the SBU, as well as being responsible for all international marketing activity for the other strategic business units within the Ordnance Division.
In 1997 Olin Corporation spun off the Ordnance Division and formed Primex Technologies, Inc. Dr. Bartles was made Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Primex which included being responsible for strategic planning for the corporation as well as international marketing.
In January 2001 General Dynamics acquired Primex Technologies, Inc. and in September of the same year Dr. Bartles was appointed to his current position where he has complete profit and loss responsibility for a $400+ million SBU including the management of a manufacturing plant in Red Lion, PA with over 300 employees and an Engineering and Advanced Systems group in St. Petersburg, FL of approximately 200 people.
Dr. Bartles graduated from Shepherd College with a BS in Business Administration. He holds a Masters degree in International Business from Tampa College, an MBA from Shippensburg University and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University. Recently, Dr. Bartles completed all required coursework for a Ph. D. in Technology Management at Indiana State University with a concentration in Manufacturing Systems. Dr. Bartles anticipates completing the requirements for this degree in 2009.
Dr. Bartles currently serves on the Industrial Committee of Ammunition Producers as the Chairman Emeritus and also serves on the Manufacturing Council of the National Defense Industrial Association as well the General Dynamics Manufacturing Council. He also serves on the Smart Machine Advisory Committee and is a member of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing. He is also currently the Treasurer of the Tampa Bay Chapter of NDIA which he helped to co-found in 2006.
Dr. Bartles previously served as Chairman of the American League of Export Security Assistance in 2001 and served over ten years on the US State Department’s Defense Trade Advisory Group. Dr. Bartles also served on the Executive Board of the Defense Industry Offsets Association. He is a member of the Association of the United States Army, the National Defense Industrial Association, the Tampa Bay Area Foreign Relations Committee, the American Marketing Association, the Academy of Management, the Academy of International Business, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the National Tooling and Machine Association, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
