People Category: AIAA DEFENSE Forum 2025

Quinton Packard is a military fellow representing the United States Navy in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He joins CSIS after serving as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of the Navy Reserve in the Pentagon. He is a naval aviator with over 3,000 flight hours in the CH-46E, HH-60H, and MH-60F airframes. He spent the first eleven years of his total 27 years of military service as a United States Marine before transferring to the Navy Reserve in 2008. His aviation tours included deployments to Kosovo, Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as multiple tours in Iraq.

His command tours include serving as Commanding Officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron-84 and the Commodore of the Maritime Support Wing. Quinton holds a BA in international relations from the University of Delaware and an MS in national resource strategy from the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, with a concentration in weapons of mass destruction. He is a Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executive Fellow, an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow, and earned his Executive Certification in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Maj. Gen. James E. Smith is the Vice Director for Joint Force Development, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia.  As the Vice Director for Joint Force Development, Maj. Gen. Smith serves as the principal assistant to the Director for Joint Force Development (J-7), supporting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in enhancing the operation effectiveness of both the current and future joint force. The J-7 is responsible for the six functions of joint force development: Doctrine; Education; Concept Development and Experimentation; Training; Exercises and Lessons Learned.

Originally from Boise, Idaho, Maj. Gen. Smith commissioned in 1997 as the top graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.  His career spans numerous space operations and acquisition positions including command at the squadron, group, wing and garrison levels. His staff assignments include Headquarters, NATO; Headquarters, Air Force Space Command; the Air Staff; the Space Staff; and the Joint Staff.

Maj. Gen. Smith has deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Prior to his current position, Maj. Gen. Smith served the Assistant Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, Headquarters U.S. Space Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia.

Eric Wollerman is president of Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies (FM&T).  FM&T manages and operates the U.S. Department of Energy’s Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC). With nearly 7,000 employees in Kansas City and Albuquerque, the KCNSC provides national security through their diverse engineering, manufacturing, and secure supply chain management activities.

As Honeywell FM&T president, Wollerman is responsible for applying best-in-class commercial standards in managing operations and delivering outstanding mission results with a $1.8B annual operations budget.

Since joining FM&T in April 2020, Wollerman has been leading KCNSC’s strategies, including: delivering operational excellence in nuclear weapons and national security missions with a focus on quality, early design engagement and delivery requirements; embracing digital transformation tools and technologies to enhance our mission; strategic planning for KCNSC’s infrastructure; supply base and workforce needs for today and the future; and, unlocking the value of our people and processes while enhancing the organization’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Acceptance (IDEA) strategies.

In addition to leading the Honeywell FM&T business, Eric supports community reinvestment with key focus areas in Society, Education and the Environment. Wollerman has a strong partnership with Grandview School’s STEMM  and advanced manufacturing programs.  He is a board member for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, National Security Executive Council, Strategic Deterrence Coalition, and is on the Leadership Council with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Wollerman’s Honeywell career began in 2005 within its Integrated Supply Chain. His driving improvements in supplier quality, implementation of lean manufacturing, success in managing operations & ability to forge strong customer relationships soon led to senior leadership roles within Honeywell Aerospace Technologies.  He also ran operations for several manufacturing plants and most recently led global customer service operations within the Aerospace Technologies portfolio.

His academic degrees include a Bachelor’s of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  Eric also holds a Certificate of Aircraft Maintenance & Technology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, is a certified Lean Expert, and an Eagle Scout.

Michael Rambo leads Spirit’s Research & Technology (R&T) Global Technology
Strategy team comprised of Distinctive Capabilities Leaders, Intellectual
Property professionals, and R&T Opportunity Capture managers. In this role,
he guides a group of senior engineering specialists in technology roadmap
development, maintains a strategic framework to evaluate ongoing and
potential business opportunities, owns the intellectual property portfolio, and
advises on technology strategy across the global Spirit AeroSystems
enterprise. Michael is a Spirit Ambassador and regularly represents Spirit at
events and by visits throughout the commercial and defense aerospace
industry.

He is a US Air Force Academy graduate and retired Air Force pilot, strategist,
inspector, and command and control officer. He flew the T-3A, T-37B, T-1A,
KC-135R/T, and every variant of the Beechcraft T-6 for a total of over 3,000
flight hours, with almost 450 combat hours, earning two Meritorious Service
Medals, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Air Medals and other
accolades. In the aerospace defense industry, prior to joining Spirit, he spent
over a decade with Beechcraft/Textron Aviation in roles of increasing
responsibility spanning Program Management, Supplier Management,
Business Development, Demonstration Flight, Training and Simulation
Programs, and Product leadership.

Michael holds a Master of Operational Military Arts and Sciences
through Air University, a Bachelor of Science in Operational Arts
and Sciences through the Air Force Academy, and a Professional
Certification as a Strategic Execution Professional (SEP) through
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Michael is a native Texan, but now lives in Wichita, Kansas with
his wife, Nancy, son, Schaefer (19), and daughter, Elizabeth (16).

Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey is the Department of the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management (DAF PEO C3BM), Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. DAF PEO C3BM integrates the C3BM materiel enterprise within the department, aligning technical architecture and acquisition authorities to streamline the delivery of decision advantage capabilities via the DAF BATTLE NETWORK.

The DAF BATTLE NETWORK is the integrated system-of-systems connecting sensor, effector, and logistics systems providing better situational awareness, faster operational decisions, and decisive direction to the force. It integrates roughly 50 programs of record across the department, ensuring resilient decision and information advantage needed by the Air Force, Space Force, Joint, and Coalition forces to win against the pacing challenge. It is the DAF’s contribution to Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control.

Maj. Gen. Cropsey was commissioned through the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1995. He held key engineering, acquisition, and sustainment positions on Air Force conventional and nuclear weapon systems and National Reconnaissance Office space systems; served on the Office of the Secretary of Defense staff for systems engineering; and led at the squadron, group and wing levels as a Materiel Leader and Senior Materiel Leader. Maj. Gen. Cropsey’s joint experience also includes three years at the European Command Plans and Operations Center in Stuttgart, Germany, where he served as a Space Operations Planner and Executive Officer to the Director of Operations.

Prior to assuming his current position, Maj. Gen. Cropsey was the Director of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, and Director of International Affairs, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Maj. Gen. Cropsey is a certified Level III Engineer, Level III Program Manager, and a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College Program Manager’s Course.

Dr. James W. Weber is the Principal Director for Hypersonics in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E).  In this position, he serves as the Department of Defense’s senior official and subject matter expert for Hypersonics.  Dr. Weber leads DOD’s vision, strategy, and roadmap for hypersonic weapons and platforms, and the defense against hypersonic threats.  Additionally, he oversees the strategic alignment and coordination of the Department’s more than $4 billion annual portfolio in hypersonics including science and technology, prototyping, test and evaluation, and industrial base development.

Dr. Weber has more than 30 years of experience in the research and development of hypersonic systems.  He has held multiple previous assignments in the United States Air Force including engineering and program management positions with the DOD/NASA National Aero-Space Plane (NASP), AFRL Hypersonic Technology (HyTech), DARPA/AFRL Affordable Rapid Response Missile Demonstrator (ARRMD), and AFRL High Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW) programs.  In 2019, Dr. Weber was detailed to OUSD(R&E) as a Special Assistant for Hypersonics, where he led the development and execution of the first DOD Hypersonics Science & Technology Strategy.

Prior to assuming his current position, Dr. Weber served as the Air Force Senior Scientist for Hypersonics, where he was responsible for the department’s hypersonics science and technology enterprise and advised Air Force senior leadership on hypersonic systems development.

Dr. Weber received his B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park.  He is an Excellence in Government Fellow, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a three-time recipient of the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

Brett Boylston is the Foreign Technology manager at Beyond New Horizons, the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Arnold AFB. He is responsible for managing a small, highly experienced team of engineers that provide analytic outreach to the DoD community on aerospace ground test facilities and defense production infrastructure. Brett began his career as a test facility analyst and built real-time math models of AEDC’s test facilities. He has applied those skills to ground test facilities and is a subject matter expert on wind tunnels, hypersonic propulsion test cells, and turbine engine test facilities. Brett has a BS in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a MS from the University of Tennessee.”

Lieutenant Colonel Charles “Chaz” LeDeatte is the Director of the AFCENT Battle Lab and Chief Technology Officer, Headquarters Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central), Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. In these roles, he serves as the principal lead and advisor to the Commander for operational science and technology, research and development, technology integration, innovation, and digital transformation across the command, partnering with academia, industry, and government labs to achieve these efforts. Colonel LeDeatte drives strategic efforts to expedite technology adoption, achieve decision superiority for warfighters, and convert science and technology investments into disruptive capabilities. His leadership directly supports 12K personnel conducting air operations across the 21-nation United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility, fostering regional security and cooperation. Colonel LeDeatte received his commission from the East Carolina University AFROTC program in 2004. He is a Senior Air Battle Manager (ABM) with more than 2,000 flight hours, including 1,280 combat flight hours. Colonel LeDeatte has commanded combat missions supporting multinational security efforts and stability operations, including Operations INHERENT RESOLVE, FREEDOM’S SENTINAL, NATO RESOLUTE SUPPORT, and POTUS-directed missions.

Dr. Thomas Powers is an Aerospace Engineer and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Threat Systems expert with over 10 years of experience with consumer small UAS (sUAS) and over 5 years of experience with adversary UAS and Cruise Missile systems. With a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University focused on implementing autonomous soaring algorithms and involvement in the hobbyist remote piloting community, Powers’ passion for sUAS has fueled a focus on innovation in the threat space. After making the transition from grad school research to threats analysis as a UAS Threat SME at APL, Powers leads a team of UAV pilots focused on supporting numerous counter-UAS efforts across APL and various sponsors by emulating red-team sUAS capabilities and tactics, and executing demonstrations highlighting gaps in current defensive postures. Powers has also become a recognized subject matter expert in UAS threat technologies and threat concepts of operations, and has briefed various audiences on the current UAS threat environment, provided motivation, and fostered understanding on these rapidly expanding and developing threats. Powers is passionate about understanding the interplay between the state of the art in sUAS technology and UAS threat systems to better anticipate the threats of the future.

Bryan Clark is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute. He is an expert in naval operations, electronic warfare, autonomous systems, military competitions, and wargaming.

From 2013 to 2019, Mr. Clark was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) where he led studies for the DoD Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Defense Advanced Research Products Agency on new technologies and the future of warfare.

Prior to joining CSBA in 2013, Mr. Clark was special assistant to the chief of naval operations and director of his Commander’s Action Group, where he led development of Navy strategy and implemented new initiatives in electromagnetic spectrum operations, undersea warfare, expeditionary operations, and personnel and readiness management.

Mr. Clark served in the Navy headquarters staff from 2004 to 2011, leading studies in the Assessment Division and participating in the 2006 and 2010 Quadrennial Defense Reviews. His areas of emphasis were modeling and simulation, strategic planning, and institutional reform and governance. Prior to retiring from the Navy in 2008, Mr. Clark was an enlisted and officer submariner, serving in afloat and ashore submarine operational and training assignments including tours as chief engineer and operations officer at the Navy’s nuclear power training unit.

Mr. Clark is the recipient of the Department of the Navy Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. He received his MS in national security studies from the National War College and BS in chemistry and philosophy from the University of Idaho.