Christie Dragan
Christie L.S. Dragan, SAF/MRBD
United States Air Force Review Boards Agency
Panelist, On Further Review: The Role of the New DoD Discharge Appeal Review Board (DARB)
Ms. Christie L.S. Dragan is completing a civilian short-term experiential program assignment to the Secretary of the Air Force (SAF) Acquisition Capability Division (AQXS) where she is leading a project to improve the modification management process used through the Department of the Air Force. Upon her return to the Air Force Review Boards Agency (AFRBA), Joint Base Andrews, Md., she will transition back to the Department of Defense (DoD) Discharge Appeal Review Board (DARB) after serving as the AFRBA chief of strategic communication. In that role she wrote and executed the agency Strategic Communication Plan to convey information to varied stakeholders and audiences concerning programs, responsibilities, and activities managed by 130+ members of AFRBA, a Forward Operating Agency which acts on behalf of Secretary of the Air Force and has the potential to impact 3.1 million Air Force and Space Force veterans, civilians, active duty, Reserve and Guard members. Reporting directly to the Assistant Secretary of the AF for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, AFRBA streamlines the adjudication of military and civilian personnel matters through 10 statutory and secretarial boards and one review office.
Ms. Dragan is a retired AF Reserve officer who entered the active duty AF in 1989 as a distinguished graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Upon separating in February 1996, she became an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) in the AF Reserve serving at the SAF Public Affairs directorate in Washington, D.C. After varied assignments serving as an air reserve technician and traditional reservist, in June 2017 she retired as an IMA with the DoD Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR), JB Andrews, Md.
In her civilian capacity, upon leaving active duty, Ms. Dragan accepted a political appointment as special assistant to the director of public affairs for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in Washington, D.C., where she worked an information campaign to achieve Senate ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention. She next served as the civilian chief of public affairs for the 514th Air Mobility Wing, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Air Force Base, N.J., then worked as a contractor for JYG Innovations, and after a break in service, was reinstated to the federal civil service working for the DoD Physical Disability Board of Review, JB Andrews, Md., and was then pivotal in standing up the DoD Discharge Appeal Review Board.
