Thu, Jun 02, 2011
Lt. General Ellen Pawlikowksi Tapped For The Leadership
Post
A change of command ceremony for the Air Force Space and Missile
Systems Center will take place Friday, June 3, beginning at 1000
PDT at the Fort MacArthur parade ground in San Pedro, CA. Lt. Gen.
Ellen M. Pawlikowski (pictured) will be the first female
commander of the 5,000 people assigned to SMC and responsible for
executing the center's $10 billion annual budget to acquire and
sustain most of the nation's military space capabilities. She will
assume command from Lt. Gen. John T. "Tom" Sheridan, who has served
as the commander since May 2008.
Pawlikowski is returning to SMC after having previously served
as the center's vice commander and the commander of the Military
Satellite Communications Systems directorate. "I am deeply honored
to return to Los Angeles and lead the world's best space
acquisition team," she said. "We have exciting and challenging days
ahead and I look forward to the challenge of delivering space
capabilities for our nation."
Sheridan is retiring after 36 years in the Air Force. "One of
the reasons we are the most capable space force in the world is the
dedication and hard work of the men and women of SMC," he said of
his time at the center. "Their work directly supports our deployed
warfighters and has had a tremendous impact on the world's quality
of life with capabilities like the Global Positioning System
– vitally important for today and the future. I am very proud
to have led this talented team."
Gen. William Shelton, Commander of Air Force Space Command,
Peterson AFB, CO, will preside over the change of command.
From February 2010 to May 2011, Pawlikowski served as the
commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson
AFB, Ohio. She was responsible for managing the Air Force's $2.2
billion science and technology efforts as well as $2.2 billion in
additional customer-funded research and development programs. She
led a workforce of approximately 10,800 people in the laboratory's
component technology directorates, the Air Force Office of
Scientific Research, and the 711th Human Performance Wing.
Pawlikowski entered the Air Force in 1978 through the Reserve
Officer Training Corps program at New Jersey Institute of
Technology. She attended the University of California at Berkeley,
where she received a doctorate in chemical engineering in December
1981.
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