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Welcome to
JOINT RESERVE DIRECTORATE

Joint Reserve Directorate (JRD)

Since 2006, the Joint Reserve Directorate (JRD) has enhanced OSD operations and decision-making by providing Research and Engineering leaders with expertise not traditionally available to the DoD.

Our Mission is to provide timely, relevant, impactful information to USD(R&E) leaders to ensure awareness of emerging and innovative concepts, technologies, strategies, and practices important to USD(R&E) priorities.

With the vision to be an indispensable provider of insights critical to guaranteeing our nation’s technological edge.

LEADERSHIP

Reza

COLONEL REZA A. GRIGORIAN

Areas of Expertise: Air & Weapons Platform Lifecycle Acquisition, Program/Project Mgmt, Strategic & Business Strategies, Government Contracting

Military Experience: Multiple assignments w/DAF Rapid Capabilities Office (SAF/AQ), Several AF aircraft ACAT-I assignments w/AFLCMC, Operational & contingency Contracting assignments
Civilian Background: Current 96th Test Wing Director of Staff (Eglin AFB, FL), previous B-21 Materiel Leader, Program manager for multiple ACAT I-III aircraft/weapons programs
Education: BBA, International Business, University of Georgia; MS, Research & Development Mgmt, Air Force Institute of Technology, WPAFB, OH; MS, Strategic Studies, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, AL

Inbound

LIEUTENANT COLONEL ERIN N. PETTYJOHN

Areas of Expertise: Space Cryocoolers, Space Flight Experimentation, Program Management, Hypersonic Materials, High Power Electromagnetic Weapons, Nuclear S&T
Military Experience: High Power Laser Weapons, Satellite Vulnerability Analyst, Intel Analyst, Hypersonic Materials Expert, PEM support
Civilian Background: Deputy Director, Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory. 23 years in AFRL across directed energy weapons and space in program management, S&T, and supervision.
Education: BS Physics, Virginia Military Institute; MS Applied Physics, Air Force Institute of Technology

duffy

LIEUTENANT COLONEL KATE DUFFY

Areas of Expertise: Alt PNT; Image Analysis; Radar; Tech startups; Rapid Acquisitions; DevOps Testing
Military Experience: Several tours as Navigations Engineer and Program Manager at AFRL (WPAFB) in addition to working at the Research & Engineering Group (Ft Meade, MD) in similar technology areas.
Civilian Background: President of independent contracting firm. Test Lead supporting AF’s effort for precise navigation solutions in GPS denied environments. System Engineer Lead for Joint ACAT 1 Program Office
Education: BS, Electrical Engineering, Northeastern Univ.; MS Electrical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, MS Strategic Intelligence, National Defense Intelligence College.

Kopekin

LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANDREW KOPEIKIN

Areas of Expertise: Autonomous systems, Swarming, Human Machine Teaming, System Safety, Systems Engineering, Flight Testing
Military Experience: Multiple developmental engineer & program management positions at AFRL (RX), AFLCMC (HB & INH), and SAF/AQI
Civilian Background:  Technical Staff at MIT Lincoln Lab (FFRDC) leading the development of multiple autonomous systems. Previous MITLL assignments: Visiting Professor at West Point, Flight test lead for DAF RCO Air Force Red Team crewed aircraft testbeds.
Education: BS, Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois; SM, Aerospace Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); PhD, Aerospace Engineering, MIT

stone

MAJOR BARRON D. STONE

Areas of Expertise: Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Electronic Warfare; Signal Processing

Military Experience: Prior to joining the Joint Reserve Directorate, supported the Digital Acquisition and Sustainment Office at the Air Force Armament Directorate.
Civilian Background: AI product lead at a defense startup and instructor of online software development courses.
Education: BS, Electrical Engineering, Rice University; MS, Electrical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology.

fulcoly

MAJOR DANIEL O. FULCOLY

Areas of Expertise: Space situational awareness; Small satellites; Optical systems; Orbital mechanics; Rendezvous and proximity operations; Data centers

Military Experience: Science and research positions R&D program management, and experimental small satellite operations within AFRL (RV & RD) and NRO/AS&T
Civilian Background: General Manager/EVP at a PE-backed data center real estate company; responsible for strategy and operations of the Federal subsidiary. Strategy/management consultant at a major firm focused on a variety of industries and functional areas
Education: BS Math and BS Physics, USAFA; SM Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT

luken

MAJOR BRYCE W. LUKEN

Areas of Expertise: Tech startups; VC; Space & ground sys & acq; Immersive Tech leveraging AI/ML; Entrepreneurship
Military Experience: Platform Integration Manager for Wideband Global SATCOM; Acq Officer for C2 Systems, LA AFB; CAG Chief & Biz Ops Lead for MILSATCOM; Assistant Professor for Tech Innovation at USAF Academy.
Civilian Background:  Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer (COO) for Aviation AI/ML Sensor Fusion & Data Analytics company. Previously COO $600M Private Equity Enterprise SaaS fund, COO of immersive technology and AI company in NYC, CFO at venture back food tech startup, co-founder of mobile x-ray company for preventative health, & co-founder of e-com retail business. Lead VC analyst for CO’s largest Angel invest group.
Education: BS, Management, U.S. Air Force Academy; MS, Information Technology, Florida Tech; MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurship, UCLA Anderson School of Management

mckinney

Areas of Expertise: Autonomy; Cloud-based software acquisitions and operations; Economic policy; International security cooperation, especially U.S. relations with Latin America
Military Experience: 63A acquisition program manager. Most recently served with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU); previously with AFLCMC for intelligence software and ballistic missile radar systems. Also qualified as 16F Foreign Area Officer (FAO) for Latin America.
Civilian Background: Diplomat with U.S. Department of State focused on economic matters, with tours in Canada, Pakistan, and Mexico. Previously worked at HubSpot, a high-growth B2B software firm, as Senior Manager for strategy and operations.
Education: BS, Management, U.S. Air Force Academy; MSc, International Political Economy, The London School of Economics; MBA, Harvard Business School.

neal

MAJOR CHARLES J. NEAL

Areas of Expertise: Unmanned systems and counter unmanned systems technologies; air vehicle design and test; operational test & evaluation; tech startups and entrepreneurship
Military Experience: Weapon design engineer with Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Flight Demonstration Team; Lead of test for the ICBM Mk87 Fuze Modernization Program at AF Nuclear Weapons Center; Master’s Student at Air Force Institute of Technology; Assistant Branch Chief at AFRL Munitions Directorate
Civilian Background: Founder and CEO of unmanned aircraft startup company with successful acquisition by automotive safety conglomerate, currently serving as Chief Operations Officer and lead engineer; California State University drone curriculum advisory board member
Education:  BS, Systems Engineering - Information Systems, US Air Force Academy; MS, Systems Engineering - Unmanned Systems Design, Air Force Institute of Technology

can

Areas of Expertise: Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Signal Processing; Research and Acquisition; Electronic Hardware Design; Entrepreneurship

Military Experience: Technical manager at AFRL sensors directorate, executive officer AFRL headquarters, combat damage forensic engineer

Civilian Background: Machine learning advisor responsible for advising and prototyping AI/ML insertion opportunities for DoD and IC customers. Owner of an electrical engineering design and consulting business.
Education: BS, Electrical Engineering, Northern Arizona University; MS, Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in Artificial Intelligence, Air Force Institute of Technology.