Dr. Henniger Named New DOT&E Director
In December 2025, Dr. Amy Henniger was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the War Department’s new Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). Previously, Dr. Henniger served as Senior Advisor for Advanced Computing in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) S&T Technology Centers, providing leadership to programs and policy makers in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, data analytics, modeling and simulation (M&S), and quantum information science.
Dr. Henninger also has served in several technology leadership positions in the Defense and intelligence communities, including conducting digital engineering and standards work for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; serving as a Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) Army M&S Executive; advising the Army’s Senior Analyst on studies supporting operational requirements analyses; serving as a Defense Intelligence Agency Senior Advisor and leading the development of the agency’s Digital Transformation Strategy; and serving as an HQE Senior Advisor for Software and Cybersecurity, assessing software and cybersecurity testing and evaluation on major Defense programs for DOT&E. In addition, she has more than 200 hours training with National Security Agency Cyber Red Teams.
In the private sector, Dr. Henniger served at a federally funded research and development center, leading numerous strategic technology initiatives, including the development of a software assurance primer that has been recommended reading by the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Security Agency. She also founded a P&L center of Soar Technology, Inc., a tech startup focused on third-wave context-informed AI solutions, where she led research teams sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other Defense agencies. She also co-led the development of a distributed virtual training system used to train more than 1.5 million soldiers.
Dr. Henninger holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering, has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in computer science and AI, has authored more than 80 publications, and has been the recipient of numerous professional awards.
Congratulations, Dr. Henniger, on your new role at DOT&E!
Robert Gierard Retires
In July 2025, longtime community leader Mr. Robert Gierard—or “RAG,” as he’s more commonly known—retired after more than 42 years of service in the aviation defense technology, testing, development, analysis, and acquisition business. Many ASJ readers will recognize Mr. Gierard’s name from his many articles (and award recognitions of other community members) on the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Aircraft Survivability Symposium, for which Mr. Gierard served as the longtime Chair of the Combat Survivability Division’s Awards Committee. However, his own 4 decades of contributions to the survivability community are ones that certainly deserve recognition as well.
Earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University and the Air Force Institute of Technology, respectively, Mr. Gierard began his aerospace career in 1981, taking a job as an electronic warfare test support engineer at the Air Force Electronic Warfare Center in San Antonio, TX. A few years later, he became the Special Test Program Manager and Chief of the Special Projects Branch for the Air Force Flight Test Center in Nevada, where he was responsible for the planning and execution of numerous important F-117 Nighthawk testing and analysis efforts (including during Operation Desert Storm). Mr. Gierard then took his specialized knowledge and expertise to the B-2 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson, AFB, where he served from 1991 to 1994 as a Program Manager for the development and testing of several different aspects of the B-2 Spirit stealth aircraft.
In the fall of 1994, he moved to the Pentagon to serve as Chief of the Special Studies Division (“The Red Team”) in the Directorate of Special Programs for the Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition). In this position, he served an Air Force subject-matter expert on the effectiveness of stealth aircraft, weapons, and technology in combat. And from 1999 to 2002, he was a senior low observables/counter-low observables analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, supporting the Director of Central Intelligence’s Center for Weapons Intelligence, Non-Proliferation, and Arms Control.
In 2002, Mr. Gierard moved to the industry side of the community, serving as the Director of Operations Analysis for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and its Advanced Development Programs (aka “Skunkworks”) and then (in 2013) for Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems in southern California. Finally, for the past 5 years, Mr. Gierard worked for Booz Allen Hamilton in Colorado Springs, CO, where he served as an independent contractor/strategy consultant and then a Lead Associate supporting NORAD’s J32 Domain Awareness Division.
As far as plans for retirement go, Mr. Gierard says he is currently exploring how he can contribute to the Pike’s Peak Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, is digging all the holes his gardening wife requires, and is enjoying all the Colorado Front Range sunsets he can.
Congratulations, RAG, on your well-earned retirement, and thank you for your many years of service to the aircraft survivability community, the ASJ, and the U.S. Warfighter!
New AFRL Research Environmental Chamber
In May 2025, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) officially opened a new Research Environmental Center (REC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. The state-of-the-art chamber, which is part of AFRL’s Human Effectiveness Directorate, is being used to better test, understand, and improve the performance of both equipment and personnel operating in extreme environmental conditions. The REC can simulate a wide range of these conditions, including temperatures from -60 °F to 130 °F, humidity levels from 10% to 95%, up to 4 inches of rain per hour, and various dust-filled environments. The chamber’s stainless steel interior also has a removalable chemical distribution chamber; access ports for wires, tubing, and cables; and an antechamber that serves as a buffer between the entrance and the main chamber (to prevent disruptions in the test environment). In addition, the REC’s grated floor is rated up to 600 lb/ft2 to accommodate heavy-equipment testing.
For more information, visit, https://www.afrl.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4207462/new-afrl-chamber-to-enhance-human-equipment-performance-in-extreme-environments.
U.S. Air Force Photo by Richard Eldridge
Fall 2025 ASJ Erratum
Note that in the printed version of the fall 2025 Aircraft Survivability journal (ASJ), the last name of one of the authors was inadvertently omitted on the authors’ byline on page 9. The byline should read “Adam Goss and Timothy Staley.” The ASJ apologizes for the oversight.
