QuSecure Appoints Former Navy Rear Admiral Doug Small to Federal Advisory Board

Insider Brief

• QuSecure has appointed U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Doug Small (Ret.) to its Federal Advisory Board as the company expands its post-quantum cryptography efforts with government agencies.
• Small brings more than 35 years of Navy experience, including leadership roles at NAVWAR and Project Overmatch focused on large-scale technology and information systems programs.
• The appointment comes as federal organizations accelerate post-quantum cryptography migration planning driven by new cybersecurity directives and policy initiatives.

Press release – QuSecure, Inc., a leader in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and cryptographic agility, today announced that U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Doug Small has joined its Federal Advisory Board (FAB).

Admiral Small (Ret.) joins QuSecure as federal agencies move from planning to execution on PQC migration initiatives, in part driven by official directives. Last month, the U.S. Department of War (DoW) released the DoW Post-Quantum Cryptography Strategy, which mandates a department-wide shift to secure communications, data, and command and control systems against emerging quantum computing threats. The effort came on the heels of the President’s Executive Order 14409, “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” fueling the national post-quantum security movement.

Admiral Small most recently served as the Commander of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), where he exercised executive leadership over a $6B annual budget and a global workforce of 11,000 professionals. Throughout his 35+-year career in the U.S. Navy, Admiral Small led some of the military’s most complex technical and operational information systems initiatives. From 2020 to 2024, he served as the first Direct Reporting Program Manager for Project Overmatch, a highest-priority effort to complete a generational update to the Navy’s operational architecture, delivering across all domains.

“Doug is an executive leader with a proven track record of driving large-scale innovation and disruptive acquisition strategies within the Department of Defense,” said Brian Cunningham, EVP Strategy & Growth, QuSecure. “He has deep expertise in high-tech systems development and production, cybersecurity leadership, and helping federal agencies navigate the national security landscape. He will be a tremendous resource as we meet growing demand from agencies looking to meet post-quantum requirements and cryptographic agility with operational continuity.”

Prior to NAVWAR, Admiral Small served as the Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS), where he was accountable for the development, delivery, and sustainment of all surface navy sensor, combat, and weapon systems. His expertise in “disruptive acquisition” allowed him to partner across military branches to deliver the first-ever virtualized combat systems and integrated missile launch platforms. He has also chaired NATO and bilateral cooperative programs, and developed strategies that synchronized defense efforts among global allies. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Marquette University.

“Our competitors are unrelenting in their efforts to acquire our secrets, and they’re becoming armed with AI-enabled tools and soon quantum computing,” said Small. “It is more important than ever that we bring real agility and post-quantum security for our nation’s information protection.”

The QuSecure Federal Advisory Board (FAB) is a distinguished group of former senior military, intelligence, and government officials established to guide QuSecure’s work with U.S. Government agencies.