Ahead of the program.

Prepared
to Win.

Senior defense leadership, Fortune 50 operating discipline, and the Wire Intelligence engine, applied to help U.S. and international companies win Department of Defense contracts.

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The Firm

We know how the government buys.

Led by the former Commanding General of TACOM, DLW helps companies navigate defense requirements, acquisition, and sustainment from the buyer's side.

Principal
Darren L. WernerMajor General, U.S. Army (Ret.) · Former Commanding General, TACOM
Managing Partner
Jesse JohnsonFormer Chief of Staff, Cargill · 20 years U.S. Army Aviation
Registration
SAM.gov, activeCAGE 248K0 · UEI T41NEH4EM433
Affiliation
AUSA Community PartnerAssociation of the United States Army
What We Do

Architect. Access. Awards.

Whether you are an established defense contractor, a commercial manufacturer entering the market, or an international firm entering the U.S. defense market, great companies lose defense business for lack of access, positioning, and a disciplined process, not for lack of capability. Our work closes that gap in three parts.

We are advisors, not lobbyists, brokers, or proposal shops. Clear scope. Clean expectations. Focused results.

01Architect

Design the path to contract.
  • Capture strategy and positioning
  • Capability-to-platform mapping
  • Sourced market intelligence

02Access

Get in the right rooms, early.
  • OEM, subtier and program office introductions
  • Industrial base navigation: OTAs, consortia, federal programs

03Awards

Compete, and win.
  • Capture sprints on a specific pursuit
  • Retainer-based executive BD advisory
Where We Work

Beyond the ground fleet.

Our roots are in Army ground vehicles and equipment. The same capture discipline applies wherever the Department of Defense buys, and across the industrial base that supplies it.

Ground systemsTACOM and the vehicle enterprise
AviationAMCOM and rotary-wing sustainment
MaritimeShipbuilding and the naval supplier base
Industrial baseDepots, arsenals, and their manufacturers
The Platform

Wire Intelligence.

The engine behind every DLW engagement, not a product we sell. It builds intelligence from the federal record and holds itself to a standard most advisory work does not.

01
Every claim is sourced.Each statement traces to a retrievable public record on USASpending.gov or SAM.gov, checked before release.
02
It holds instead of guessing.When two companies share a name, or ownership is unclear, it returns a hold, not a confident answer that might be wrong.
03
A person signs off.The platform drafts. A DLW principal reviews and releases.
Leadership

Operators, not spectators.

Senior defense leadership and Fortune 50 operating discipline. That combination is what turns capability into contracts.

Major General Darren L. Werner, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Darren L. Werner
Principal · Major General, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command

More than three decades of leadership across the Army and the defense enterprise, with relationships built at the highest levels of government and industry.

Jesse Johnson, Managing Partner
Jesse Johnson
Managing Partner
Former Chief of Staff, Cargill. Twenty years in U.S. Army Aviation.

Master of Policy Management, Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy. MBA, Carlson School of Management. Brings the structured capture process and operational discipline that turn capability into contracts.

Contact Jesse Telephone717 736 5075 Emailjesse@dlwdefense.com LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/johnsonjesser
Associates

Across markets and programs.

Senior practitioners who extend our reach across markets and programs.

Fernanda Cosetl, Managing Director, LATAM
Fernanda Cosetl
Managing Director, LATAM
Latin America

Based in Mexico City, Fernanda leads DLW's work in Latin America, connecting Mexican and Latin American manufacturers with U.S. defense supply chains.

International

Entering the U.S. market.

European and Latin American firms bring proven technology to U.S. defense and meet an unfamiliar acquisition system on arrival. We build a compliant, credible path to a U.S. contract.

01
Market entryRegistration, U.S. presence, and the ownership and export rules that decide eligibility.
02
Allied supply chains and nearshoringPositioning allied and Latin American manufacturers as U.S. primes move production closer to home.
03
Foreign Military SalesWorking alongside FMS cases and the U.S. partners that execute them.
How We Engage

Your path into U.S. defense.

A complimentary, sourced read on where you stand and where you can compete. Every engagement begins there.

01
The ReadComplimentary. A sourced read on your position and where you can compete.
02
The AssessmentFixed scope. A path-to-contract assessment that proves the value before you commit.
03
The RetainerOngoing capture intelligence and senior business development support. The core of our work.
04
The SprintPer pursuit. An outcome-tied push to win while the window is open.
Contact

Tell us where you want to compete.

Tell us where you want to compete, in the U.S. or alongside it. We will give you an honest read. Prefer email? info@dlwdefense.com