Greg Slavonic is the former Acting Under Secretary of the Navy and previously served as senate-confirmed 18th Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs in President Trump Administration.  He also served as the first Chief of Staff for Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK).

After a distinguished 34-year career in the Navy/Navy Reserve where he rose from a Seaman Recruit to retire as a Rear Admiral.  During his Navy career he served combat deployments to Vietnam, Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. His final assignment was the Navy’s Sixth Special Assistant to Chief of Information (CHINFO).

For the past 45 years, he has held various civilian senior level positions in the communications industry and including CEO for Blue-Water Strategies, LLC, a defense consulting company. He has written two books on leadership development, co-authored a book on American Olympian Jim Thorpe and recently published a book on his experience with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

He is currently the Executive Director for the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency managers six (6) veteran’s homes around the state and a seventh (7) will open the end of 2024. ODVA supports over 350,000 Oklahoma veterans with various services and manages a team of 1,400 employees and oversee an annual budget of $160 million dollars.  ODVA also has oversight and management of two (2) state veterans cemeteries.

In addition, he was Executive Director of the Jim Thorpe Association and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. The Jim Thorpe Association presents annually the Jim Thorpe Award to the "Outstanding Defensive Back" in Division-I NCAA college football. He has also been recognized with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Oklahoma State University (College of Arts & Science), University of Central Oklahoma and Bishop McGuinness High School.

He serves on many boards and organizations, including Vice Chairman of the Board for ChemResearch Corporation, Senior Advisor American Global Strategies, Advisory Board for Next Dynamics, Inc., USS Oklahoma (BB 37) Memorial and senior advisor for the commissioning committee for the Navy’s newest nuclear-powered submarine USS Oklahoma (SSN 802) which will be commissioned in three years.  In addition, he led the effort to raise money and build the USS Oklahoma Memorial located in Pearl Harbor, HI to honor the memory of the 429 sailors and Marines aboard the first ship named Oklahoma who perished December 7, 1941.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma with a Master of Education.