Alton Wallace works at the corporate headquarters of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Alexandria, Virginia, where he is a member of the research staff of the Operational Evaluation Division (OED). His division supports the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), within the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon.
"Federal regulations require that all major weapon systems be subjected to independent operational testing with typical soldiers and sailors before they are produced in large quantities," Alton explains. "These tests are typically conducted by the individual services (i.e., Army, Navy, or Air Force). DOT&E is an 'oversight' agency for the Secretary of Defense which must certify to Congress that a given system has been adequately tested before it can be purchased in quantity. Our division (OED) supports DOT&E in this oversight role."
"For a typical weapon system, a team of 3-4 engineers from OED, lead by a Project Leader, will monitor the development of the weapon over 4-5 years. This development will culminate in a test (planned by the Army or Navy) that covers a 4-6 week period. We monitor the test for DOT&E, and then independently analyze the data to reach conclusions on system reliability, kill probability, effective range, etc. Most of the analyses are statistical in nature, but some understanding of the physics or mechanics of the individual weapon (e.g., tank) or sensor system (e.g., radar) is required. At any point in time, each of us may be working on 3-4 different systems."
"The OED consists of approximately 80 research staff members, with approximately 70% holding Ph.D. degrees. The staff is about equally divided among former military officers, former analysts or executives from industry, and those who joined IDA directly from college. Most degrees are in mathematics, statistics, physics, chemistry, and engineering, which are interchangeable. We typically work in small teams of 3-4 engineers to support the planning and execution of operational tests of major weapons systems."
Alton has a B.S. in engineering mathematics from North Carolina A&T State University, an M.S. in mathematics from Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from University of Maryland. He joined IDA in 1995, but has been involved with operational testing for the past 20 years. He spent some of that time as a contractor with System Planning Corporation (SPC), supporting Army, Navy, and Air Force programs.
"I started in industry because of salary and the chance to work in the Washington, DC area," Alton recalls. "Once I started in industry, the opportunity to work on so many new projects, top quality staffs, exotic travel, financial rewards, and the option to set my own ‘agenda’ as a Director (at SPC), proved very rewarding. In selecting industry, one must be prepared to move to "management" and away from 'technical' areas as one advances in salary and responsibility. Senior management, too, is very rewarding, but can also be very stressful."
His move to IDA gave him the opportunity to get back into the more technical areas. There is little turn over in his division and most new hires are of people already in the industry. He found out about the opening through a "network" of people he worked with over the years who were already at IDA.
To work in the area of operational testing, Alton recommends the basic core of mathematics courses, supplemented by study in statistics. Computer and engineering courses are also a help. "A couple of summers of intern work with industry are also a definite plus," Alton notes. "But we use our chemistry, mathematics, physics, and engineering students interchangeably. The qualities that go into our selection process are probably less related to classes taken, and more related to inter-personal skills (e.g., writing, speaking, and handling yourself before a very senior audience). The students that get hired first and advance the most, are those who can write and speak."
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