Speakers

Ms. Lea T. Kirkwood, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Program Executive Officer and Director for the Agile Combat Support Directorate at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. She leads more than 1,600 military and civilian personnel responsible for executing $8.2billion annually in Air Force Funds. The directorate’s six divisions, located primarily at Wright-Patterson AFB, Robins AFB, Georgia and Heath Ohio, provide materiel solutions and acquisition life cycle management for simulators, support equipment and vehicles, electronic warfare and avionics, human systems, automatic test systems, and metrology and calibration to meet Air Force operational needs.

Ms. Kirkwood served 29 years as an active-duty Air Force officer. As an acquisition program manager, she managed space, command and control, mission planning, automatic test systems, and early warning and control programs for United States and NATO operations, as well as foreign military sales. She led international relations at the Pentagon, in Hungary, and in the United Kingdom. She commanded the 422nd Air Base Squadron, Royal Air Force Croughton, United Kingdom, and served as Deputy Commander, 78th Mission Support Group, Robins AFB, Ga.; Deputy Commander, 451st Expeditionary Mission Support Group, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan; and Vice Commander, 72nd Air Base Wing, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. She deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Freedom’s Sentinel, and for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission.

Ms. Kirkwood entered federal civil service in January 2022 as the Program Executive Officer and Director for the Agile Combat Support Directorate of the AFLCMC.