Jack Blackhurst, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director of the Plans and Programs Directorate and Director of the Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Directorate, Headquarters Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He is responsible for developing and managing the processes that define Air Force Research Laboratory's $2 billion annual investment in technologies for future Air Force systems and enables the alignment of Science and Technology resources.
Mr. Blackhurst was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned his Air Force commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program in 1974 and began his career as a Communications-Electronics Officer assigned to Strategic Air Command in the 509th Bomb Wing at Pease AFB, Hew Hampshire. After completing his master's degree through the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1979, he held numerous management positions within the Air Force personnel and human research communities, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology and Engineering.
Mr. Blackhurst retired as a Colonel in 2004. On his last assignment, he served as the Chief of the Space and Missile Systems Sector, Headquarters Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Prior to his current assignment, he served as Director for the Human Effectiveness Directorate, 711th Human Performance Wing, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in January 2010.
EDUCATION
1974 Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Allegheny College
1979 Master of Arts, Industrial Psychology, Air Force Institute of Technology , St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1. September 1974 - May 1975, student, Communications-Electronics School, Keesler AFB, Miss.
2. May 1975 - August 1978, communications-electronics officer, 509th Bomb Wing, Pease AFB, N.H.
3. August 1978 - December 1979, student, Air Force Institute of Technology, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas
4. December 1979 - July 1984, survey officer, Air Force Personnel Center, Randolph AFB, Texas
5. July 1984 - July 1986, Air Force Program Manager for the Joint Service Performance Measurement Project, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Brooks AFB, Texas
6. July 1986 - July 1990, Chief, Advanced On-the-Job Training System Project, Air Force Human Resource Laboratory, Bergstrom, AFB, Texas
7. July 1990 - July 1994, Chief, Advanced Training System Division, Human Systems Program Office, Brooks AFB, Texas
8. July 1994 - June 1999, Program Element Monitor and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology and Engineering, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
9. June 1999 - August 2004, Chief, Space and Missile Systems Sector, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright- Patterson AFB, Ohio
10. September 2004 - July 2008, Technical Adviser, Plans and Programs, AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
11. August 2008 - November 2013, Director, Human Effectiveness Directorate, 711th Human Performance Wing, AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
12. November 2013 - present, Director, Plans and Programs Directorate and Director, Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Directorate, HQ AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
Program Management, Level III
(Current as of September 2016)