About

About Robert Hastings

Robert T. Hastings is the Principal, Robert Hastings & Associates, a leadership and communications consultancy focused on the aerospace, defense, and mobility sectors. As a veteran C-Suite advisor, Hastings is a proven leader, business executive, strategic communicator, author and veterans advocate with a track record of success spanning a forty-year multifaceted career in military, corporate leadership, and public service.

Mr. Hastings was most recently Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Bell Textron Inc. where he planned and led the successful advocacy campaign which helped win the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft program – one of the Department of Defense’s largest and most significant acquisition programs to replace the Army’s 2000+ Black Hawk helicopters with an estimated lifetime value in excess of $100 billion. The marketing effort has been called one of the best integrated marketing campaigns ever in the defense sector.

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While at Bell he also spearheaded the public advocacy efforts for the Bell NEXUS Urban Air Mobility / AirTaxi program – in collaboration with Uber Elevate – driving a national conversation about air taxis and culminating in the highly successful public debut of NEXUS at the Consumer Electronics Show garnering billions of impressions, hundreds of headlines, and coverage by national news programs.

Mr. Hastings served in the Administration of President George W. Bush as Principal Deputy / Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, where he was the principal advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense and senior Administration officials for strategic communication, public information, and internal information, leading a worldwide public affairs community of some 4,000 military and civilian personnel.

A decorated combat helicopter pilot, Mr. Hastings is a retired Brigadier General from the Texas Military Department who successfully commanded U.S. Army and state military units from platoon to brigade level. He has served in leadership roles with numerous military and veteran advocacy organizations including the Army Aviation Association of America, the National Defense Industrial Association, the USO, and the Armed Services YMCA.

In his civilian career, Hastings has successfully led the communications, marketing and government affair steams for several corporations including Bell Textron, BAE Systems Inc, and Northrup Grumman Information Systems. Mr. Hastings has served on numerous community, non-profit and industry boards to include the Public Relations Society of America Board of Directors and Board of Ethics and Professional Standards. He is accredited in public relations with military credential (APR+M), a PRSA Fellow, and the winner of numerous industry awards.

Mr. Hastings is a member of the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame, the Defense Information School Hall of Fame, and the winner of the prestigious Lt. Col. Maggie Megellas award for distinguished public service.