Dr. James Kirsch was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in July 2019. He serves as the Director for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center. Dr. Kirsch leads a workforce of more than 11,000 engineers, scientists, researchers and support staff in delivering life cycle engineering and advanced technologies as required by the Army’s strategic priorities and support to its Cross-Functional Teams and the Aviation and Missile materiel development enterprise.
Under Dr. Kirsch’s direction, AvMC is responsible for delivering collaborative and innovative aviation and missile capabilities for responsive and cost-effective research, development and life cycle engineering solutions. Many Department of Defense and federal agencies, as well as academic, corporate and industrial researchers and developers, seek AvMC’s science, technology, and engineering expertise, which is characterized by its talented and technically proficient workforce and unique test bed capabilities.
Prior to his detail as acting director, Dr. Kirsch was the Director for the DEVCOM AvMC Software, Simulation, Systems Engineering and Integration Directorate (S3I).