Faces of the Force

Kathryn "Calette" Chamness

By Cheryl Marino

Article published on: January 1, 2025 in the Winter 2025 Edition of the Army AL&T Magazine

Read Time: < 4 mins

COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, Integrated Fires Rapid Capabilities Office

TITLE: Integrated fires test operations chief

YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 28

DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Practitioner in engineering and technical management

EDUCATION: M.S. in civil and environmental engineering; B.S. in industrial and systems engineering, both from the University of Alabama in Huntsville

AWARDS: Space and Missile Defense Technical Achievement Team Award for the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense Test Operations Team (2018)

Don't Be Overworked

Kathryn “Calette” Chamness got her first taste of Army acquisition in 1995, when she served as a component engineer for the Stinger missile system for the Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), now the Aviation & Missile Center of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities and Development Command. Back then, she thought that was cool since the first Stinger missile—a lightweight, selfcontained air defense system—rolled off the production line around the time she was born. Today, as the integrated fires test operations chief for the Integrated Fires Rapid Capabilities Office, Chamness thinks her job is cool for a few different reasons. Like “blowing things up in the middle of the desert and getting paid for it,” according to those she knows outside of work.

Chamness began her government career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an engineering technician in 1990, where she worked on the Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites, assisting a team of explosive ordnance disposal specialists in cleaning up ordnance and chemical warfare agents buried at various DOD installations.

“My mother [Joan Chamness] worked for the Corps of Engineers as well [as a project management specialist], and she knew and loved my team of ‘crazy, retired military men who obviously had a death wish,’ as she described them. I would go TDY [temporary duty] and watch them ‘sweep’ for unexploded ordnance and mom would warn, ‘She better come back with all the body parts she left with, and I mean it!’ They made sure I kept all my fingers and toes, and it was definitely one of the most fun jobs I ever had.”

From there, a fully intact Chamness moved on to her acquisition position as component engineer at AMRDEC.

“I became part of the Army Acquisition Workforce because I certainly loved engineering, but mostly because my family has a long history of military service and I always felt great pride in serving my country in whatever capacity I could.” Chamness said she never served in the military, but her father (Jacky Chamness, Army E4) was a Vietnam veteran, her grandfather (Vernie O.A. Chamness, Navy E7) was a World War II veteran and many of her uncles served in all branches of the military. She is also married to a Marine (Randall Barbee, E4), who served during Desert Storm.

As the fires test operations chief, Chamness handles the management of resources and planning and execution of developmental and operational testing for the Army’s air and missile defense systems. The planning and execution of these developmental and operational test events are critical to fielding new and advanced capabilities to the warfighter to defeat advanced threats using numerous sensors and weapons.

“I love being part of a major acquisition program that I began working on during concept development and now in the final stages of being fielded to Soldiers for Army air defense testing,” she said. “It is satisfying because you are part of a team that takes hard work from multiple engineering disciplines and demonstrates the system’s capabilities and how those capabilities will help our Soldiers strengthen national defense.”

THIS IS JUST A TEST
Chamness and her team at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in December 2019 for the 5th Missile Flight Test for the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System, where she was the test event manager and successfully executed a near-simultaneous engagement of two cruise missiles. (Photo courtesy of Calette Chamness)

Chamness has participated in many flight tests, but she said it is still exciting to see a host of hardworking people running around onsite in the early morning hours to execute a hot mission. “I love hearing and feeling the launchers firing off some rounds and being able to step outside and see firsthand what it looks like to put a few ‘fireballs’ in the sky and appreciate all the hard work that went into making it happen.”

One of the most important points in her career, she said, was when she made the transition from systems engineering to test engineering. Chamness went from testing components in a line-replaceable unit, like a circuit card assembly, to testing a fullup Army air and missile defense system, including a command-and-control node with multiple sensors, launchers and interceptors, along with other systems from the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

“Transitioning [from the component level] to test engineering allowed me to gain test experience and knowledge at the system level, which has made me a more valuable tester to the Army, and I have a much better understanding and knowledge on how to test and integrate at the system level.”

When she moved to test engineering she became part of a mentoring program, where she has served as both mentee and mentor.

“The program paired me with a mentor that provided guidance in technical areas and also on assignments and training that I should take advantage of to better posture myself for broadening my career,” she said. She pays that forward as a mentor. Her best advice for new test engineers is: “Don’t let anybody outwork you, listen more than you talk and take advantage of every opportunity to learn new things. There are always career opportunities available if you are willing to work hard and continue your education and training. By doing these things you can position yourself to take advantage of career opportunities when presented and be in control of your own career path."

She said the only thing she didn’t do, but wished that she had, was to participate in a six-month rotation at the Pentagon when that program was available because she really thought that would have helped her to better understand the “Big Army” picture.

Outside of work, Chamness enjoys outdoor activities like hunting, camping and riding motorcycles with her husband. The field test environment offsets her desk duties. “I enjoy working in the test environment because the work takes me away from the desk and allows me to be outside at a test range and working with actual hardware in a tactical environment, alongside Soldiers and materiel developers.”

Whether it’s indoors at your desk or outside in the test environment, Chamness stresses that one should strive to always work harder. “You will always be surrounded by people that are smarter than you, but don’t let that intimidate you; instead, use their expertise to your advantage and work hard to learn from those people,” she said. “Over the course of my career I have learned that growth occurs by surrounding yourself with people who challenge you and help you grow, no matter what stage you are in your career.”

—CHERYL MARINO