Prior to this appointment, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Management were he supervised 11 major human resources business lines; ranging from marketing, recruitment and staffing to employee benefits, human resources accountability, and workforce/succession planning.  Prior to his SES appointment, Mr. Hensley served as the Director, Marketing, Recruitment and Veterans Employment Outreach Service, and principal advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Management on policies and programs affecting the employment of veterans in VA and the Federal government.  He was VA’s Acting Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) and Chief Learning Officer.  He also served as the Department’s Deputy CHCO on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s CHCO Council for the Federal government.

Mr. Hensley is the former Director, VA Center for Minority Veterans where he served as the advisor to the Secretary on programs and policies affecting approximately 4 million minority veterans.  In this capacity, he provided technical guidance and assistance to over 300 VA employees who served as minority veterans program coordinators at local VA facilities around the country.

Prior to his VA appointment, Mr. Hensley was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel with the U.S. Army Operational Test and Evaluation Command, where he directed personnel and administrative functions for 2,000 military and civilian employees.

He was a 22-year active duty Army officer (now retired), rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in September 1990.  He began his military career as the chief of the separation transition facility at Fort Carson, Colorado.  Other duty assignments included work with the Office of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, and the Office of the Adjutant General at the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command in Alexandria, Virginia.  He has also served as the Commander of an adjutant general postal detachment in Korea and a personnel services company in Germany.

Mr. Hensley’s military awards include the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (three awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), the Defense Meritorious Service Award and the Legion of Merit.

Mr. Hensley was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He lived in northern Louisiana until he attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where he earned a B.S. in social studies, with emphasis in history.  Later, he earned a MA in education from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.  He is a graduate of Leadership VA, VA’s SES Candidate Development Program, and the Senior Executive Fellow Program, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  He is a 2009 Presidential Rank Award recipient and has been awarded the VA Secretary’s Exceptional Service Award.

Mr. Hensley resides in Fairfax County, Virginia.