Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski serves as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The command employs some 80,000 people and manages $60 billion annually, executing the critical mission of warfighter support through leading-edge science and technology, cradle-to-grave life cycle weapon systems management, world-class developmental test and evaluation, and world-class depot maintenance and supply chain management.
General Pawlikowski entered the Air Force in 1978 through the ROTC program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She then attended the University of California at Berkeley and received a Doctorate in chemical engineering in December 1981, entering active duty at McClellan AFB, California, in April 1982.
General Pawlikowski's career has spanned a wide variety of technical management, leadership and staff positions including command at the wing and center levels. She has served as Director of the Acquisition Management Office for the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy and as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense. Her leadership assignments included Program Director of the Airborne Laser Program; Commander of the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing; Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office; Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory; and most recently Commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center.
General Pawlikowski is nationally recognized for her leadership in the US science and technology community. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the National Academy of Engineers.
Prior to her current assignment, General Pawlikowski was the Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
EDUCATION
1978 Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark
1981 Doctorate of Philosophy in chemical engineering, University of California, Berkeley
1984 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1990 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1991 Program Managers Course, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
1994 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. April 1982 - December 1984, Director, Gas Research and Development, Technical Operations Division, McClellan AFB, Calif.
2. December 1984 - March 1986, Chief, Mass Spectrometry and Micro-beam Instruments Branch, Technical Operations Division, McClellan AFB, Calif.
3. March 1986 - December 1987, Command Systems Plans Manager, Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick AFB, Fla.
4. December 1987 - July 1989, Chief, Plans and Programs Division, Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick AFB, Fla.
5. July 1989 - July 1990, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
6. June 1990 - December 1991, Deputy Chief, Special Projects Division, Rome Laboratory, Griffiss AFB, N.Y.
7. December 1991 - July 1993, Senior Executive Officer, Rome Laboratory, Griffiss AFB, N.Y.
8. July 1993 - June 1994, student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
9. June 1994 - March 1996, Director, Acquisition Management Office, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
10. March 1996 - June 1997, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
11. June 1997 - June 1999, Chief, Revolutionizing Training Division, Training Systems Product Group, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
12. June 1999 - March 2000, Deputy Director, Global Power Programs, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
13. April 2000 - March 2005, Director, Airborne Laser System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Kirtland AFB, N.M.
14. March 2005 - July 2007, Commander, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
15. July 2007 - May 2008, Vice Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
16. June 2008 - February 2010, Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va.
17. February 2010 - May 2011, Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
18. June 2011 – June 2014, Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center and Program Executive Officer for Space, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
19. June 2014 - June 2015, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
20. June 2015 - present, Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1994 - March 1996, Director, Acquisition Management Office, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a lieutenant colonel
2. March 1996 - June 1997, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as a colonel
3. March 2005 - July 2007, Commander, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., as a brigadier general
4. June 2008 - February 2010, Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va., as a major general
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Individual Recognition Ribbon
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
1984 Commandant Trophy, Squadron Officers School
1999 Air Force Association Management Award – Executive
2012 Women in Aerospace, Lifetime Achievement Awards
2012 Thomas D. White Space Award
2012 Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
2014 Member, National Academy of Engineering
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 25, 1978
First Lieutenant May 25, 1981
Captain May 25, 1983
Major March 1, 1988
Lieutenant Colonel April 1, 1992
Colonel Oct. 1, 1996
Brigadier General June 1, 2005
Major General July 22, 2008
Lieutenant General June 3, 2011
General June 8, 2015
(Current as of June 2015)