The Defense Department announced July 2 that Regina Dugan has been appointed the 19th director of DARPA, the Pentagon’s advanced weapons shop. She will fill the vacancy left by Tony Tether’s departure in February. Zachary Lemnios, director of defense research and engineering in the Pentagon, said Dugan is “precisely the dynamic leader DARPA needs to open new technology frontiers and transition revolutionary technologies to serve our nation’s interests.” Prior to her appointment, she served several senior posts in industry. She also spent 1996 to 2000 as a DARPA program manager. She has a PhD in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.