2022 Redstone Update: Presentations and Bios

Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 • VBC East Hall

The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber is pleased to present the 2022 Redstone Update. Here are presentations (PDF) and bios of the panelists and speakers.

 

AGENDA AND PRESENTATIONS

Welcome Remarks: Greg Brown, 2022 Chair, Chamber Board of Directors

Greetings from Senior Mission Commander: LTG Chris Mohan, U.S.Army Materiel Command Deputy Commander, Senior Commander of Redstone Arsenal

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC): Jody Singer, Director - View presentation (PDF)

  • Introduction by MG (Ret.) Jim Myles, Chair, Chamber Military Affairs Committee

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Wendell “Drew” Watts, Deputy Assistant Director, Facilities Finance and Facilities Division (FFD) - View presentation (PDF)

  • Introduction by Greg Brown

Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO): LTG Robert Rasch, Jr., Director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition - View presentation (PDF)

  • Introduction by MG (Ret.) Jim Myles

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC): Richard De Fatta, Space and Missile Defense Command Deputy to the Commander - View presentation (PDF)

  • Introduction by Greg Brown

The Materiel Enterprise and Redstone’s Support to Ukraine - View presentation (PDF)

Luncheon: LTG Chris Mohan, U.S.Army Materiel Command Deputy Commander, Senior Commander of Redstone Arsenal - View presentation (PDF)

LTG Chris Mohan

U.S. Army Materiel Command Deputy Commander, Senior Commander of Redstone Arsenal

LTG Chris Mohan assumed duties as the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Materiel Command on 2 December 2022. In his role, he is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Army’s logistics enterprise. He also serves as the Senior Commander of Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

LTG Mohan is a native of Carthage, North Carolina. He commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1989 from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where he graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice.

His military education includes the Ordnance Officer Basic Course, the Combined Logistics Officer Advanced Course, the Naval College of Command and Staff and the Army War College. He holds a Master of Science in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College and a Master’s Degree in Military Strategy from the Army War College.

LTG Mohan’s former command assignments include Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois; 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Kaiserslautern, Germany; 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Tooele Army Depot, Tooele, Utah; 80th Ordnance Battalion, 593d Sustainment Brigade, I Corps, Fort Lewis, Washington and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, Iraq; Alpha Forward Support Company (Airborne), U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM; and 664th Ordnance Company, 553d Corps Support Battalion, 64th Support Group (Corps), III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas.

Other significant assignments include Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Logistics, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Director, Strategic Logistics Integration (G-45/7), Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4, U.S. Army; Executive Officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4, U.S. Army; Executive Officer to the Commander, United States Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Joint Logistics Plans Officer, J-4, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Support Operations Office, Special Operations Support Command (Airborne), U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

LTG Mohan has deployed multiple times in support of Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

LTG Mohan’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2 OLC), Bronze Star Medal (3 OLC), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (4 OLC), Army Commendation Medal (2 OLC), Southwest Asia Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and Meritorious Unit Citation, Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Ranger Tab, German Parachutist Badge and the Army Staff Identification Badge.

Jody Singer

Director, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Jody Singer is the director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Appointed in September 2018 as the first female Marshall center director, Singer manages one of NASA's largest field installations, with nearly 7,000 on- and near-site civil service and contractor employees and an annual budget of approximately $3.6 billion. Prior to being named to the position, Singer had served as Marshall acting director since July 2018 and was deputy director from February 2016 to July 2018, assisting the director with the daily management of the center’s workforce and operations.

During her 37-year NASA career, Singer has held leadership roles of increasing responsibility in human spaceflight, technology, science, and flight mission programs and projects. In 2002 she was appointed to the Senior Executive Service, the personnel system covering top managerial positions in federal agencies. She began her NASA engineering career in 1985 through the professional intern program in the mission planning and development office.

In 1986, she joined the Space Shuttle Program Office, where she was an engineer in the Space Shuttle Main Engine office. From 2002 to 2007, she served as the first female project manager for the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project and led the team during the Columbia Return to Flight activities. From 2010 through 2012, she held deputy positions for three concurrent major programs: The Space Shuttle, Ares, and the start-up of the Space Launch System (SLS).

Singer, a native of Hartselle, Alabama, earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama in 1983, and she is a Distinguished Engineering Fellow. She is also a State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame recipient and was recently inducted as an AIAA Associate Fellow. Singer has completed two NASA Fellowships, and has been recognized with numerous awards during her NASA career, including a Presidential Rank Award (Distinguished and Meritorious Executive), the highest honor for career federal employees, and the Silver Snoopy award by the NASA Astronaut Corps.

Singer and her husband, Chris, live in Huntsville. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Wendell “Drew” Watts

Deputy Assistant Director, Facilities Finance and Facilities Division (FFD)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Drew Watts is the Deputy Assistant Director for Facilities of the Finance and Facilities Division (FFD) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In this position, he is responsible for all FBI facilities and real property, including firearms ranges. As DAD for Facilities, he leads the FBI’s facilities acquisition, construction, operations and maintenance functions, and oversees the FBI’s logistics services functions, including fleet management. Prior to this position, Mr. Watts served as the Procurement Section Chief of the FBI, leading the effort to procure all necessary supplies and services responsibly, and efficiently across the FBI enterprise. Mr. Watts first entered on duty in 2004 as a Special Agent and was assigned to the Atlanta Field Office. In 2011 he became the Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) for the Criminal Investigation Division-Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section at FBI Headquarters. Following his time at FBI Headquarters, Mr. Watts transferred to the New Orleans Division, where he served as the Cyber Intrusion SSA before being promoted in 2017 to the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the National Security Branch of the New Orleans Division. In 2019, Mr. Watts returned to headquarters to serve as the Section Chief for Field Operation Support Section (FOSS). Mr. Watts is an Alabama native with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Accounting from University of Montevallo.

LTG Robert A. Rasch, Jr.

Director, Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition
Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO)

Lieutenant General Robert (Rob) A. Rasch, Jr. is the Director of Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. He assumed duties in September 2022.

In this position, LTG Rasch is responsible for the rapid fielding of select capabilities to deter and defeat rapidly modernizing adversaries, including overseeing development of an Army Long Range Hypersonic Weapon. He leads the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office mission to rapidly and efficiently research, develop, prototype, test, evaluate, procure, and field critical enabling technologies and capabilities that address near-term, and mid-term threats, consistent with the Army’s modernization priorities.

LTG Rasch most recently served as the Program Executive Officer (PEO), Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, AL. Prior to this position, LTG Rasch served as the Deputy PEO for PEO Missiles and Space, and as the Military Deputy to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), Redstone Arsenal. Prior to that he was Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) in Washington D.C.

LTG Rasch has served in a variety of Infantry, Systems Automation and Acquisition assignments. His previous Acquisition assignments include: Assistant Program Manager for the DARPA Future Combat Systems Command and Control (FCS C2) program; Product Manager for the Army’s One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF) at the PEO for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI); and Project Manager for the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense (AIAMD) Program with PEO Missiles and Space.

LTG Rasch entered the Army through the University of Georgia ROTC Program in 1989 where he was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant. He graduated Georgia with a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) in Management Information Systems. He later received a Master of Science in Computer Science from Northwestern University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

His military awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with 1 oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, and Senior Parachutist Badge.

Lieutenant General Rasch is married to the former Shawndell Mann from Sebring, Florida. They have two children.

Richard De Fatta

Deputy to the Commander
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC)

Mr. Richard De Fatta serves as deputy to the commander, United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, effective Feb. 27, 2022. As the senior civilian in the command, he provides leadership supporting the commanding general’s priorities, initiatives and directed areas of responsibilities. Mr. De Fatta provides oversight and direction for USASMDC’s Technical Center and Center of Excellence, Army Space and Missile Defense programs, command acquisition and proponency support, command contracting efforts, organizational personnel and resource management, and is authorizing official for command systems. Mr. De Fatta joined USASMDC and the Senior Executive Service in 2013 and has extensive professional leadership experience, in both government and contractor positions, specializing in acquisition: development, testing, production, fielding, sustainment, and life-cycle support of major weapons systems and integration of emerging technologies.

Significant programs include: Pershing II, Laser Countermeasure Weapons, Combat Vehicle Survivability, Kwajalein Missile Range, Medium Extended Air Defense System, STINGER, Sentinel Radar, Surface Launched AMRAAM, Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser, JLENS, Integrated Fire Control, BMDS systems and testing, and Targets and Countermeasures. Mr. De Fatta currently serves as the USASMDC Deputy to the Commander.

His previous assignment was as the director, Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, responsible for Space and Strategic Missile Defense Doctrine and Training, Concept Developments, Decision Support and the Army Capability Managers for Space and High Altitude and Strategic Missile Defense, from March 2017 to February 2022. Mr. De Fatta’s previous USAMSDC assignments include director, Future Warfare Center; director, Capability Development and Integration, Future Warfare Center; director, Air and Missile Defense, Technical Center; and acting director, Technical Center, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command where he was responsible for managing research, development, and test programs for space, missile defense, cyber, directed energy, and related technologies. He was also responsible for the management of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands.

He retired from the Army as a colonel in 2005 and spent more than seven years in senior contractor positions providing systems engineering, integration, test, program management, and technical support to Department of Defense programs responsible for the development, production, and fielding of missile defense weapon systems.

Mr. De Fatta’s previous military assignments include: project manager, Cruise Missile Defense Systems (formerly SHORAD), Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space; chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology; product manager for the U.S. Medium Extended Air Defense System, Program Executive Office for Air and Missile Defense; director, Kwajalein Missile Range, USASMDC/ARSTRAT; product manager, Combat Vehicle Signature Management Program, Program Executive Office for Armored Systems Modernization; PEO Air Defense liaison officer for Europe; Laser Countermeasure program manager, Directed Energy Directorate, U.S. Army Missile Command Research Development Engineering Center; and Research and Development coordinator, Pershing Project Office.

Mr. De Fatta graduated in 1978 from the U.S. Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science in engineering and later earned a Master of Science in engineering physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in systems management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He attended the U.S. Army War College and U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. A member of the Army Acquisition Corps since its inception, he completed the Executive PM, Advanced PM, and Military Acquisition Management courses, and is level III certified in program management.

During his military career, Mr. De Fatta received the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (two oak leaf clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (three oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (three oak leaf clusters), the Army Achievement Medal, Army Staff Identification Badge, and Parachutist Badge. He is also the recipient of the Army Space and Missile Defense Association Technical Achievement Award and National Defense Industrial Association Defense Technical Award.

Reneé Webb Mosher

Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations & Readiness Directorate, G-3
U.S. Army Materiel Command

Ms. Renee’ Mosher provides mission command over daily operations by integrating global support functions and systems supporting Joint Warfighters across the full spectrum of Army operations. Responsibilities include full spectrum of contingency and operational planning efforts; Operations, Readiness; Army Equipping; Army Prepositioned Stocks; Logistics Readiness Centers and Field Maintenance; Army Protection Program. Ms. Mosher executes the strategic direction, priorities, policies and guidance as established by the AMC Commanding General.

Prior to assuming this position, Ms. Mosher served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Supply Chain Directorate, AMC G3. She was responsible for supply chain management of secondary items supporting all Army material requirements. Ms. Mosher served as the Senior Logistics Advisor to the Commander, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command. Responsibilities included: executive level policy formulation, planning and readiness for over sixty project and non-project managed systems; acquisition and sustainment logistics for Weapon Systems Program Management, Materiel Management, Readiness, Customer Support and Integrated Logistics Support for two Program Executive Offices and associated Program/Project/Product Manager Offices. She led 1,700 government employees and 1,000 contractors deployed world-wide and managed an annual budget exceeding $4 Billion along with inventory valued at $7 Billion.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY:

  • August 2018 - July 2020: Director, Supply Chain Management Directorate, HQ AMC, Huntsville, AL
  • May 2017 – July 2018: Executive Director, Army Aviation and Missile Command, Logistics Center, Huntsville, AL
  • May 2016 – May 2017: Deputy Director, Army Aviation and Missile Command, Logistics Center, Huntsville, AL
  • April 2007 – May 2016: Director, Materiel Management Division, HQ, Army Materiel Command, Huntsville, AL
  • June 2005 – April 2007: Supply Chain Management, HQDA, G-4, Washington, DC
  • August 2003 – June 2005: Supply Chain Manager, USAREUR G-4, Supply and Services Division, Heidelberg, GE

COLLEGE:

  • M.S., National Resource Strategy, Industrial College of the Army Forces (ICAF), Ft. McNair, District of Columbia, June 2009
  • B.A., Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC, April 1998 SIGNIFICANT

TRAINING:

  • Northwestern University, Leading with Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence
  • Harvard Senior Executives In National and International Security
  • Force Modernization Course
  • Department of Defense 49th APEX Senior Executive Service Orientation

Dr. Myra Gray

Deputy to the Commanding General
U.S. Army Security Assistance Command

Dr. Myra Gray was selected to the Senior Executive Service in July 2007 and currently serves as Deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Security Assistance Command.

USASAC leads the AMC Security Assistance Enterprise, develops and manages security assistance programs and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases to build partner capacity, supports COCOM engagement strategies and strengthens U.S. Global partnerships.

USASAC advances U.S. foreign policy by implementing approved U.S. Army Security Assistance programs, including FMS of defense articles and services, to eligible foreign governments. The Command manages FMS cases with more than 150 countries at a total value exceeding $204 billion.

Today, the Command is increasingly responding to support of U.S.
Government emergency assistance, humanitarian relief, and Operations Other Than War, including United Nations peacekeeping operations. USASAC’s motto is “USASAC – The Army’s Face to the World.”

Dr. Gray has made significant contributions to the Department of Defense in a number of positions including: USASAC Executive Director; Acting Deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command; Executive Director of the U.S. Army Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment Activity; Deputy G- 3/4 for Strategic Integration (G5), Headquarters Army Materiel Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Director, Biometrics Identity Management Agency and Executive Manager, DoD Biometrics, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3 Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.; Director, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, & Technology) Future Force Integration Office, Washington, D.C.; Project Manager (CSL), Future Combat Systems Technologies, Vienna, Virginia; Deputy Project Manager, Future Combat Systems Technologies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia; Product Manager (CSL), Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Management Systems, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center, Program Executive Office, Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Test Action Officer, Department of Defense Live Fire Office, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center, Pentagon, Virginia; Assistant Product Manager for the Medium Extended Air Defense System Product Office, U.S. Acquisition Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama; Technical Assistant to the Director of the Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM), Redstone Arsenal; Lead Engineer, Software Engineering Unmanned Vehicles Group and Targets Projects, Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, MICOM, Software Engineering Directorate, Redstone Arsenal; Computer Scientist, Surface Ship Torpedo Defense and Underwater Countermeasure Evaluator Projects, U.S. Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Coastal Systems Center, Panama City, Florida; and Mathematician, Aegis Program, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Virginia.

Her awards include the Afghanistan Ministry of the Interior, Symbol of Honor for National Police (Medal); the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal; the Superior Civilian Service Medal; the Army Superior Unit Award (Acquisition); the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service; and the Knowlton Military Intelligence Award.

Warren O’Donell

Acting Deputy Program Executive Officer (DPEO)
Program Executive Office (PEO), Missiles and Space

Mr. Warren O’Donell is currently the (Acting) Deputy Program Executive Officer (DPEO), Program Executive Office (PEO), Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, AL. He assumed the position as (Acting) DPEO in December 2021. He will resume his full-time position as the Futures Integration Director (FID), a position he assumed in November 2019, upon the return of the DPEO. In this position, he is responsible for Futures Integration at the portfolio level, life cycle management of assigned missiles and space programs including research and development, procurement, production, sustainment, and demilitarization for US Army and International partners. Prior to this assignment, Mr. O’Donell served as the Deputy for Targets and Countermeasures in the Missile Defense Agency.

Over his career, Mr. O’Donell served in a variety of Field Artillery and Acquisition, and Research and Development assignments. Other assignments include: Project Manager, Cruise Missile Defense Systems; Product Manager for Mounted Combat Systems; Ground Combat and Chemical Weapons Portfolio Manager on the Joint Staff, J-8 Capabilities and Assessment Directorate; Department of the Army Systems Coordinator for the Future Combat Systems and Stryker; two Acquisition Category level 1 Program Manager positions within the Missile Defense Agency; Commander, Bravo 1/8 Field Artillery; and staff officer within the TRADOC Systems Manager for Cannon Artillery office.

In 1985, Mr. O’Donell entered the Army through the University of Central Arkansas ROTC Program where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in Field Artillery. He retired as a Colonel in April 2013 after serving over 27 years of active duty. He entered the Department of Defense Civilian workforce at the Missile Defense Agency in May 2013.

Mr. O’Donell is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps and Level III Certified in Program Management. He earned a Master of Science Degree National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington D.C., a Master of Science Degree in Systems Acquisition Management from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, AR.

His military awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and satisfied the requirements for Airborne and Ranger qualifications.

Warren is married to the former Suzanne Rotton from Warren, Arkansas. They have one daughter, Anna who is a Junior at Auburn University.

COL Richard H. Pfeiffer Jr.

Chief of Staff
U.S. Army Contracting Command

Colonel Richard H. Pfeiffer Jr. assumed the role of the Army Contracting Command Chief of Staff on August 1, 2021.

Colonel Pfeiffer enlisted in the Army in 1990 during Desert Shield as a Power Generation Mechanic where he served with the 24th Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and during the invasion of Iraq. Later reclassifying as an Army Diver, Colonel Pfeiffer served for several years at Fort Eustis, VA in the Dive Detachment of the 6th Transportation Battalion. Upon conclusion of Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1997 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Colonel Pfeiffer’s previous assignments include Platoon Leader, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson CO; Assistant Operations Officer, 2nd Infantry Division Engineer Brigade, Camp Howze, South Korea; and Company Commander, 16th Engineer Battalion in Tal Afar and Ramadi, Iraq. In 2006, Colonel Pfeiffer was assessed into the Army Acquisition Corps. His previous acquisition assignments include Team Leader 631st Contingency Contracting Team, Fort Knox, KY; Contracting Officer, Directorate of Contracting, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait; Chief of Contracts, Office of Defense Representative - Pakistan; Team Leader 714th Contingency Contracting Team, Scott AFB, IL; Deputy Chief Regional Contracting Center, Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan; Contracting Officer, Fort Knox, KY; and Commander of MICC-Fort Irwin, at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA, and most recently as the Commander of the 408th Contracting Support Brigade supporting the CENTCOM AOR.

Colonel Pfeiffer received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Saint Leo University and has earned Master’s Degree in Acquisition and Contract Management from the Florida Institute of Technology as well as a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. He is a certified member of the Army Acquisition Corps with a Level III certification in Contracting.

Colonel Pfeiffer’s military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf clusters, Joint Commendation Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with six Oak Leaf clusters, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal with seven Oak Leaf clusters. In addition, he is authorized the wear of the Air Assault Badge, the Army Parachutist Badge, and the Salvage Diver Badge.