Daniel Gelston

Daniel Gelston was appointed Group President of CAE’s Defense & Security Group in August 2020. In this position, he leads the Defense & Security business worldwide, which focuses on helping CAE’s defense customers to maintain the highest levels of mission readiness. Mr. Gelston also serves as President & General Manager of CAE USA Inc., the company's US-based subsidiary that operates under a Special Security Agreement (SSA) to mitigate foreign ownership, control or influence. CAE USA’s history of successful compliance with the SSA allows it to supply products and services to the U.S. Government, including the Department of Defense, and to conduct classified work.

Daniel Gelston is a proven leader with more than 20 years of experience in the U.S. military, intelligence community and the global defense industry.

Before joining CAE, Mr. Gelston served as President of L3Harris Technologies’ Broadband Communications Systems sector and President of Communication Systems-West division. In this role, Mr. Gelston led his team to multiple record-breaking years of fiscal performance and significantly improved the business’s overall competitive win-rate and pipeline expansion.

Prior to his leadership role at L3Harris Technologies, Mr. Gelston was President of the Special Security Agreement (SSA) businesses Smiths Detection Inc. and Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance. In 2017, he led the SSA-controlled portion of Smith’s $710 million Morpho Detection acquisition and the divestment of Smith's Brazil business. In 2015, Mr. Gelston led the sale of Cobham's Surveillance Business and served as CEO during its transition to a standalone company.

Mr. Gelston holds a Master of Science degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University and a double-major Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Strategic Policy from Bucknell University.

Mr. Gelston’s military experience includes active and reserve duty from 1998 to 2007 as an Armor and Military Intelligence Officer. He is a US Army Armor School Draper Awardee and Intelligence Officer School Distinguished Honor Graduate.