Chair, NAS Board of Managers: Mr. Mike Costas
Mike Costas, a Bechtel principal vice president, is chair of the NAS Board of Managers. The Board is composed of senior executives of NAS member companies, ensuring availability of parent company resources and application of best practices. Mr. Costas joined Bechtel in 2011 after 25 years in the defense and space industry. Mr. Costas serves as general manager of Bechtel’s Defense and Security business line.
General Manager: Dr. Rich Tighe
Rich Tighe, a Bechtel principal vice president, serves as the General Manager of NAS. He joins NAS after serving as the Bechtel Nuclear, Security and Environmental Manager of Strategic Planning and Business Development and as a member of the NAS Board of Managers. Dr. Tighe has held leadership positions in defense and national security projects and markets for more than 20 years, including serving as assistant general manager for high hazard test and evaluation at the Nevada Test Site. He holds a PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Notre Dame.
Deputy General Manager: Mike Belzil
Mike Belzil previously served as the Director of Security and Emergency Services for the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Palmdale, California from 2007-2017. He is a retired Air Force Colonel who, over the span of his career, served as Chief of Staff for the Air Force Flight Test Center; Commander of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Air Base Wing and the Edwards Air Force Base 95th Support Group; Deputy Commander of the Elmendorf Air Force Base 3rd Support Group; and Deputy Chairman of the Air Board at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium. He has a master’s in Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire.
Integrated Resources Director: Mr. Kevin Chalmers
Kevin Chalmers will lead Integrated Resources for the NAS Team. This encompasses Labor Relations, Quality Assurance, Work Control, Acquisitions, Project Management, Engineering, Project Controls, and Safety, Health and Environment. Kevin most recently served as the chief operating officer for Bechtel in the United Kingdom in the Submarine Operating Centre of the Defence, Equipment and Supply organization for the U.K. Ministry of Defence. Kevin comes to NAS with 36 years of experience in a variety of roles including Vice President and Deputy Program Manager for Kwajalein Range Services at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site; Manager of Major Programs in Oak Ridge, TN; Business Development in the United Kingdom; Business Manager for the Pueblo Chemical Demilitarization Program in CO; Division Leader at the Los Alamos National Laboratory; and Procurement Functional Manager for Bechtel National, Inc. with a total of 28 years in various acquisitions roles.
Mission Execution Director: Mr. Jeff Henderson
Jeff Henderson is the Director for the Mission Execution for NAS. Jeff has more than 30 years’ service at AEDC, having started as a co-op in 1982. He has held a series of technical, operational, and management positions of increasing responsibility in test and plant operations and maintenance, as well as in engineering. He began his career as a test engineer in Aeropropulsion, working three core engine test projects over that portion of his career (the most complex turbine engine tests ever conducted at AEDC). He was the project engineer on a complete renovation of the J1 test cell, a multimillion dollar capital improvement effort that included redesign and replacement of the inlet, thrust stand, and exhaust gas management system. He has successfully led numerous special projects and initiatives involving leading safety culture change, organizational and change management, and efficiency improvements. Prior to becoming the Director for Mission Execution, Henderson served as the Director for the Performance Assurance directorate, and before that was the Deputy Director for the Mission Execution directorate. Henderson is a licensed Professional Engineer, a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional and has extensive Six Sigma Black Belt training. He graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Business Services Director: Jonathan Ragan
Jonathan Ragan is the Business Services Director for NAS. He oversees Prime Contracts, Security, Human Resources, Training, Finance, Public Affairs, Office and Administrative Services, and Information Services and Technology. Prior to joining the NAS team, Jon served as Assistant Project Manager for the Pueblo Chemical Agent-destruction Pilot Plant in Pueblo, Colorado. He has also worked on Bechtel programs in Kentucky, Virginia, Alaska and Alabama. Jon has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Old Dominion University.
Base Operations & Support Director: Mr. Ronnie Skipworth
Ronnie Skipworth oversees the Utilities, Facilities and Services, Capital Projects and Work Control areas for NAS at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC). He brings 29 years of AEDC experience with prior assignments in utilities, design/project management, plant operations and maintenance, planning/scheduling and testing. Ronnie hired into AEDC as a test installation engineer and later became a system engineer before he entered the management arena. Prior to his employment at AEDC, Ronnie worked for Milliken and Company in LaGrange Ga.
Performance Assurance: Mr. Mark Bymaster
Mark Bymaster is the director for Performance Assurance for National Aerospace Solutions, LLC. Bymaster has nearly 30 years of experience at AEDC in a number of roles, including as a test customer while working as a Test Development Engineer at GE Aircraft Engines for 10 years. He has also served as a lead test operations engineer, a section manager for Aeropropulsion for Test Operations Engineering, and Branch Manager for Aeropropulsion Products under a previous AEDC operating contractor. Most recently, Bymaster served in the role of integration manager for the Hypersonic Test and Evaluation Investment Portfolio for a small business supporting AEDC. Bymaster is a graduate of Purdue University, as well as a certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional, an instrument certified commercial pilot, and a certified airframe and powerplant mechanic.
NAS Technical Director: Dr. Woodrow Whitlow
Dr. Woodrow Whitlow, Jr. is the Technical Director for National Aerospace Solutions. Before joining the NAS team, Dr. Whitlow was an Executive in Residence in the Cleveland State University Washkewicz College of Engineering. He collaborated with the Dean of Engineering to implement strategies to strengthen the college, increase enrollment in engineering disciplines and raise retention rates. He also served as Associate Administrator for the Mission Support Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The directorate had a budget of $3.8 billion. Prior to the job with NASA, Dr. Whitlow was the director of the Glenn Research Center, responsible for managing an annual budget of $750 million and overseeing a workforce of approximately 1,680 civil service employees, supported by about 1,580 contractors.