REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – A leader assumed a new position to serve as the Army’s centralized manager for capability development associated with strategic missile defense.
Col. Jeffrey D. Porter accepted the position as director of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s Transformation Integration Directorate - Army Golden Dome for America, or TID-AGDA, from Col. Thomas V. Petrini during a Change of Charter at USASMDC’s Redstone Arsenal headquarters, May 20.
“The TID team works for our Soldiers,” Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty, SMDC commanding general, said. “Their mission is to deliver advanced capabilities to our Soldiers so that they can fight today, tomorrow and next year.
“When you think about our Soldiers who are defending the nation right now, from Alaska to the to the National Capital Region, it is a no-fail mission and, right now, they have the best equipment we can provide,” he added.
TID-AGDA acts as the centralized manager for capability development and user activities concerning strategic air and missile defense, including Golden Dome for America, or GDA, and other programs where SMDC has assigned proponent responsibilities as designated by Department of the Army headquarters. TID-AGDA also supports the commanders of U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Space Command and their GDA efforts.
“Tom’s performance and has been really remarkable,” Rafferty said. “You’ve got to work across multiple commands and multiple organizations to bring people together to focus on the intent of giving our Soldiers the capability they need to fight. It takes a special kind of leader to do that and that’s why we’re lucky that the Army picked Tom a couple of years ago to do that.”
Rafferty said TID-AGDA identifies Army strategic missile defense and ground-based missile defense requirements and leads Army Golden Dome for America and homeland defense integration efforts.
“Jeff is going to take the TID to a whole other level over the next couple of years,” Rafferty said. “As we really actualize the name of Golden Dome for America, the Army is going to deliver the first capabilities, and we’ll live up to the Army’s motto of ‘This We’ll Defend.’ I know we will meet what we need for Golden Dome for America and we know what’s going to happen because of your track record.”
Porter said he looked forward to working with the team, and that he was humbled by the great group of leaders and friends who joined the ceremony to support him.
“Warfighting and people, that’s what we do,” Porter said. “We’re going to do everything we can to increase the lethality that we give the Soldiers. This team is part of and partial to those efforts and I’m excited for it. Ours is a mission worth having.
“When you look at the news and look at what’s going on in the world today, there are two really decisive enablers in modern combat: air and missile defense and Army space,” he added. “Small teams are able to adapt quickly and be able to get a lot done. We’re a small team of experts, and in my mind, that’s exactly what we need to get the mission accomplished.”
Petrini said the great people who worked with him in TID-SMD were experts who made the mission successful. “I will miss the team,” Petrini said. “I’m lucky to be able to remain at SMDC, but the Center of Excellence and TID-AGDA team is made up of an incredible group of professionals who are dedicated to our mission. I’m excited to see them continue to excel.
There is a lot of interest in air and missile defense; it’s at the forefront of people’s minds as new threats proliferate around the world,” he added. “SMDC Soldiers have been focused on air and missile defense and have defended the homeland for years. These warfighters are supported by the TID. We are their advocate to the larger enterprise, and our team has decades of experience supporting the warfighter.”