John W. Douglass  John W. Douglass (born May 2, 1941) is a retired Brigadier General, United States Air Force. He served as the United States Navy's Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) from 1995 to 1998. In 2012, Douglass ran for election to the United States House of Representatives for Virginia's 5th congressional district as a Democrat, losing to incumbent congressman Robert Hurt. John W. Douglass was born on May 2, 1941 in Miami, Florida. Douglass earned an associate of arts degree in 1961 and a bachelor of science degree in engineering in 1963, both from the University of Florida. He earned a master of science degree in industrial engineering from Texas Tech University in 1967 and a master of science degree in management science from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1972. Douglass has done postgraduate work at the Cornell University Center for International Studies, where he was an Air Force research fellow with the peace studies program. During his time at the University of Florida, he joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, and upon graduating, he joined the United States Air Force and was posted to Norton Air Force Base, where he worked as a production officer for the LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile. He was then posted to Mactan Air Base in the Philippines as base procurement officer. In 1968, he was posted to the F. E. Warren Air Force Base. The next year, he was appointed deputy chief of the Defense Contract Administration Office for Curtiss-Wright, where he worked with the Navy nuclear propulsion program and various Air Force jet engine overhaul programs. He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University in this period, receiving an M.S. in Management Science in 1972. In 1973, he became a procurement officer at the Eastern Range at Patrick Air Force Base. In 1975, he joined the staff of Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force David Charles Jones as a procurement officer, and later served in a procurement capacity in the Program Management Assistance Group at Air Force Systems Command at Andrews Air Force Base. In 1977, he was named deputy program manager for business and acquisition of the Joint Cruise Missile Project in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. Douglass spent 1980-81 doing postgraduate work at Cornell University. He was named special assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in Washington, D. C. in 1981. He joined the United States National Security Council in 1984 as director of defense programs. There, he was responsible for the president's strategic modernization program, Department of Defense research and development issues, weapon system acquisition issues, and management and execution of certain high technology programs.