REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (March 3, 2022) – Bob Wagner, an Experimental Test Pilot and 23 year Army Veteran, has been selected as the Command Mission Personnel Employee of the Year for the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, also known as ATEC.
Wagner serves as an Experimental Test Pilot within the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center (RTC) in the Aviation Flight Test Directorate’s (AFTD) Attack and Reconnaissance Test Division. His duties include serving as a test pilot and test director during the planning, execution, and reporting of various test programs pertaining to new or modified attack aircraft; to include supporting the evaluation of Future Vertical Lift prototypes in support of Army Modernization.
Wagner was selected for this honor because of his work supporting the ATEC mission during the first quarter, Fiscal Year 2021, from October to December 2020.
During this period, Wagner superbly led his team during the testing of the United Kingdom AH-64E Apache attack helicopter airworthiness program. He persevered through tremendous schedule adversity and demonstrated exceptional acumen while conducting challenging and complex test flight techniques. He also provided timely updates to the customer and leadership which allowed for quick resolution of technical and programmatic issues throughout the program. His efforts will directly result in the successful fielding of 50 AH-64E Apache aircraft to the United Kingdom.
As test director for this program, Wagner led a team of five flight test engineers and three experimental test pilots through arduous test maneuvers and a compressed test schedule.
"I am honored to have led this exceptional team through a challenging and rewarding flight test. This is truly a win for RTC,” said Wagner. “This award represents the dedication, passion, teamwork, and commitment delivered by the many employees of RTC resulting in a thorough and safe flight test that will provide the most accurate information to the Warfighter."
Wagner worked long hours and weekends to ensure the program was executed safely and with the correct amount of technical rigor. He also provided daily guidance to ensure aircraft instrumentation was operational; flight test maneuvers were executed correctly; and the collected data met the test objectives.
"Bob is a true professional with a long history of service both as a Soldier and a civilian,” said RTC Commander Col. Steven Braddom. “His work here enabled the success of a diverse and technically complex major flight test effort supporting the fielding of aircraft to a critical U.S. ally. Bob is a great example of the selfless technical experts who serve every day across ATEC to ensure that U.S. and allied Warfighters have the very best equipment.”
RTC is located on Redstone Arsenal and is a subordinate command of ATEC. RTC provides technical expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, and capabilities to plan, conduct, analyze, and report the results of tests on missile and aviation systems, sensors, subsystems and components.
ATEC is a direct reporting unit of the U.S. Army and is responsible for developmental testing, independent operational testing, independent evaluations, assessments, and experiments of Army equipment.
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