President, Palladyne Defense
Prior to joining Palladyne AI in 2025, Dynes served as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Crucis, a private investment company focused on repatriating the aerospace and defense supply chain by scaling U.S. manufacturing companies long-term.
A U.S. Navy veteran, Dynes previously served as a Presidential Appointee, holding the position of Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Navy, and as National Security Advisor to Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah). Throughout his career, he has held leadership roles in programmatic, acquisition, logistics, transformational, and engineering capacities within the defense sector.
Dynes also founded and led a consulting firm specializing in guiding clients through U.S. defense acquisition, programmatic, Presidential, and Congressional funding processes. He has directed multiple major defense initiatives, including autonomic logistics for the F-35 Joint Program Office and the Air Force’s software sustainment overhaul. He also played a key role in securing Congressional funding for programs such as the Israeli Iron Dome, expansion of the F-35 block purchase, and foreign military sales systems for Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Dynes holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Aerospace and Defense from the University of Tennessee and a Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering from The United States Merchant Marine Academy.
