John Oswalt is a Senior Executive Service (SES) member under Compliance, Risk and Remediation (CRR), a service area under the Department of Veteran Affairs’ Office of Information and Technology (OIT). In August 2022, Mr. Oswalt assumed the role of Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO) for the Office of Freedom of Information Act, Records and Assessment Compliance and is responsible for the daily operations of the VA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Records Management and Privacy and Records Assessment Compliance; Data Breach Response Service Office; Privacy Service Office; and Enterprise Mail Management Program office. As the DCIO, Mr. Oswalt directs VA Records, FOIA and Assessment Compliance activities concerned with the analysis, evaluation and development of a robust gold standard VA FOIA Service, VA Enterprise Records Management Service and a critical assessment compliance directorate. Each of these functions will feed department-wide compliance and provide guidance and policy updates on program operations or planned management initiatives. Mr. Oswalt also oversees the policy and implementation and operation of the Department’s FOIA and Records Management programs across all Administrations, Staff Offices and field sites. He ensures that the agency adheres to all the legislatively mandated requirements of the FOIA and the Federal Records Act.
Mr. Oswalt ensures the FOIA team reviews, redacts, and refers incoming FOIA to the appropriate office with ownership of the information being requested. This includes oversight to the appeals process and all communication with the National Archives and Records Administration, Department of Justice and other Federal agencies.  He also ensures the Federal Records Act, and all related activities are processed in an accurate timely manner within the confines of the law. Mr. Oswalt provided guidance and oversight of the Privacy and Records Assessment Division which performs independent facility assessments of FOIA, Records and Privacy compliance.
Concurrently, as DCIO for the Office of Freedom of Information Act, Records Management and Assessment Compliance, Mr. Oswalt serves as the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). Appointed in August 2022, Mr. Oswalt oversees VA’s Enterprise-wide Privacy Program, on behalf of Mr. Kurt DelBene, Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and VA’s Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP).
Prior to Mr. Oswalt current role in CRR, he served as the DCIO for IT Resource Management, Mr. Oswalt directed the financial management, multi-year programming, budget formulation and execution, human capital management, space and facilities, strategic planning, analysis, and governance for the Office of Information Technology. He was responsible for linking the budgeting process with IT planning and programs and directs and oversees fiscal activities and human capital initiatives across all IT operational elements, with a combined budget of $4.1 billion and 8,000 employees, that supports VA’s mission and its 300,000+ IT end-users.
Mr. Oswalt has served as a member of OIT’s Senior Executive Service since 2008. Previously as Executive Director for Privacy, Information, and Identity Protection, he coordinated compliance with VA and federal government policies and directives concerning privacy, records management, and information security incident mitigation. Prior to this position, he served as the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT Budget and Finance and advised the Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT Resource Management, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Assistant Secretary for OIT on all matters relating to the office’s financial operations. In addition, he served as the Program Analysis Officer for the Office of Human Resources and Administration, where he coordinated policies on resources and performance measures and served as the primary advisor to the Assistant Secretary on all budget and finance matters.
Mr. Oswalt is a graduate of VA’s SES Candidate Development Program and is the former President of the Leadership VA Alumni Association (LVAAA), where he established LVAAA as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
