Tech Vets: Christopher Pavel connects innovators to the military problems they can help solve

[Editor’s note: “Tech Vets: Profiles in Leadership and Innovation,” is a GeekWire series showcasing U.S. military veterans leading companies within the Pacific Northwest tech industry. The series explores how military experience fosters leadership, resilience, and innovation in tech.]

While describing the talent in his office at Pacific Northwest Mission Acceleration Center (PNW MAC), Christopher Pavel rattled off a lineup of former military members that sounded like a team he could go to war with:

• Former Navy C130 crew member.
• Marine Corps helicopter commander.
• Tank crew member and purple heart recipient.
• Marine Forces Special Operations Command amphibious recon member.

As deputy director of PNW MAC, Pavel’s not headed to a battlefield, but he’s fighting nonetheless — for the military and for companies innovating on its behalf.

“This team is available to everybody in this community to translate defense needs and industry tech and put them together,” he said of PNW MAC. “Anybody can come to us and use our service. We’re literally here to support the defense ecosystem in the greater Pacific Northwest. We’re lucky to do it.”

Renton, Wash.-based PNW MAC helps innovators with mentorship and strategic connections to military partners. By better understanding operational needs and aligning technology with defense priorities, companies are able to accelerate viable deployment opportunities.

Pavel joined PNW MAC last year in September after a more than two decades of experience in the U.S. Air Force and tech sector.

Originally from the Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington, Pavel joined the Air Force in 2002, viewing it as a way to travel the world. He landed just eight hours away from his hometown at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Mont.

“I just basically moved next door,” he laughed. “But everywhere I’ve been, it’s been a little mini-adventure and a good experience.”

Pavel served for about a decade in the Air Force Security Forces, helping secure nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles at Malmstrom before transitioning to a job as an antiterrorism advisor. That’s where he started piecing together how industry could be leveraged to solve complex military problems.

“That was the name of the game,” Pavel said. “Finding issues or problems associated with whatever base we would do an assessment on, and then finding products in industry that could be leveraged and put on contract to solve it. I did a lot of matchmaking, even back in my early days.”

After his active duty service, Pavel transitioned to the Montana Air National Guard and crossed over to a combat engineering squadron where he eventually trained to be a cyber operator. His career eventually brought him back to Washington, working in a cyber role for the Western Air Defense Sector at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It was here that he laid the groundwork for his current job.

Pavel helped lead an innovation program for the Washington State Air National Guard that served all 41 commanders across the state. The program raised a $17 million innovation portfolio and launched 28 projects — many of them brought to fruition through collaboration with PNW MAC.

As he was transitioning out of the military, PNW MAC made perfect sense.

“I basically went from doing the job in uniform to doing the exact same job out of uniform,” Pavel said.

The Pacific Northwest, with its robust tech industry and numerous military installations, offers a fertile ground for defense innovation. There are multiple military tech startups on the rise, such as Overland AI and EdgeRunner AI, both ranked in the GeekWire 200. And new reports suggest tech’s on-again, off-again cycle of engagement with the military is heating up again.

PNW MAC offers a range of services, including two tech accelerators: an international one called NATO DIANA and an in-house Defense Technology Accelerator. They also manage contracts specifically for the Navy and other branches of service, acting as “DoD matchmaker.”

The team at PNW MAC is comprised almost entirely of veterans with diverse military backgrounds who possess invaluable firsthand knowledge and know what works in the field.

“The DoD is kind of funny,” Pavel said. “You have this really tradition-based organization, but you’re still needing to change and accelerate and innovate to meet the demands of emerging threats. So being able to be on both sides has been super important. To understand the hurdles around tech translation is gold.”