Dr. Kelly Hammett
Director and Program Executive Officer
Space Rapid Capabilities Office
Dr. Kelly Hammett, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director and Program Executive Officer (PEO) for the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (Space RCO), Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico. As Space RCO’s senior acquisition officer, Dr. Hammett is responsible for and oversees development, acquisition, rapid fielding, transfer and transition activities for all space acquisition programs assigned to the Space RCO. In this position, Dr. Hammett serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force for the rapid development of a robust portfolio of major acquisition programs providing critical, first-of-their-kind capabilities that protect space assets and defend the Joint Force from space-enabled attack. In his PEO capacity, he is programmatically responsible for the Space RCO portfolio of major acquisition programs that strategically enhance the Nation’s warfighting capabilities.
Dr. Hammett entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant in 1988, receiving his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. His 20-year active duty career spanned a variety of positions mainly focused on directed energy weapon system technology development and acquisition and culminated after serving as the Director of Engineering for the $7 billion Airborne Laser Program. His civilian career started at Kirtland AFB where he served in various positions to include the Chief Engineer for the Directed Energy Directorate’s Optics Division, as well as the Directorate Chief Engineer, where he provided all systems engineering, program management, and program protection oversight of 30+ science and technology programs valued at over $300 million.
Dr. Hammett has published more than 14 technical papers in national and international journals and conference proceedings. He was directly responsible for the development and flight test of more than ten first-of-their-kind, world record setting directed energy technologies. He is a member of the Acquisition Corps and held multiple Critical Acquisition Positions over the last 18 years. He is a Level III Space Professional, and previously commanded an operational space surveillance detachment. Throughout his career, he has led more than 30 successful field demonstrations of optical and directed energy technologies for space surveillance, missile defense, force protection, air superiority, and global precision attack mission needs. Prior to his current assignment, he was the Director, Directed Energy Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2016.