DON’T BE OUTWORKED
Kathryn “Calette” Chamness got her first taste of Army acquisition in 1995, when she served as a component engineer for the Stinger missile system for the Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), now the Aviation & Missile Center of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities and Development Command. Back then, she thought that was cool since the first Stinger missile—a lightweight, self- contained air defense system—rolled off the production line around the time she was born. Today, as the integrated fires test operations chief for the Integrated Fires Rapid Capabilities Office, Chamness thinks her job is cool for a few different reasons. Like “blowing things up in the middle of the desert and getting paid for it,” according to those she knows outside of work.
KATHRYN “CALETTE” CHAMNESS
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, Inte- grated Fires Rapid Capabilities Office
TITLE: Integrated fires test operations chief YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 28
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Practitioner in engineering and technical management
EDUCATION: M.S. in civil and environmental engineering; B.S. in industrial and systems en- gineering, both from the University of Alabama in Huntsville
AWARDS: Space and Missile Defense Techni- cal Achievement Team Award for the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense Test Opera- tions Team (2018)
Chamness began her government career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an engineering technician in 1990, where she worked on the Defense Environmental Resto- ration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites, assisting a team of explosive ordnance disposal specialists in cleaning up ordnance and chemical warfare agents buried at vari- ous DOD installations.
“My mother [Joan Chamness] worked for the Corps of Engineers as well [as a project management specialist], and she knew and loved my team of ‘crazy, retired military men who obviously had a death wish,’ as she described them. I would go TDY [temporary duty] and watch them ‘sweep’ for unexploded ordnance and mom would warn, ‘She better come back with all the body parts she left with, and I mean it!’ Tey made sure I kept all my fingers and toes, and it was definitely one of the most fun jobs I ever had.”
From there, a fully intact Chamness moved on to her acquisition position as compo- nent engineer at AMRDEC.
“I became part of the Army Acquisition Workforce because I certainly loved engineer- ing, but mostly because my family has a long history of military service and I always felt great pride in serving my country in whatever capacity I could.” Chamness said she never served in the military, but her father (Jacky Chamness, Army E4) was a Vietnam veteran, her grandfather (Vernie O.A. Chamness, Navy E7) was a World War II veteran and many of her uncles served in all branches of the military. She is also married to a Marine (Randall Barbee, E4), who served during Desert Storm.
As the fires test operations chief, Chamness handles the management of resources and planning and execution of developmental and operational testing for the Army’s air and missile defense systems. Te planning and execution of these developmental and opera- tional test events are critical to fielding new and advanced capabilities to the warfighter to defeat advanced threats using numerous sensors and weapons.
“I love being part of a major acquisition program that I began working on during concept development and now in the final stages of being fielded to Soldiers for Army air defense testing,” she said. “It is satisfying because you are part of a team that takes hard
82
Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2025
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
