The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center welcomed a new executive director recently to its headquarters at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
Dr. Kelly Hammett, a member of the Senior Executive Service, was appointed to the position this month. Hammett replaced Joseph Oder, who is moving to a new position as assistant deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at Headquarters Air Force.
As executive director, Hammett will advise the AFNWC commander in managing all aspects of the center’s mission to acquire, sustain and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The center is responsible for the lifecycle management of nuclear weapons systems supporting two legs of the nation’s nuclear triad, including intercontinental ballistic missiles; air-launched cruise missiles; gravity bombs; and nuclear command, control and communication systems. It has more than 2,300 military and civilian personnel authorized at 20 locations worldwide.
Hammett was previously dual hatted as the director and program executive officer for the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, where he oversaw space-based research, development and acquisition activities for classified space acquisition programs.
In addition, he served 20 years on active duty with the Air Force, primarily working with the development and acquisition of directed energy weapon systems.
His civilian career began here at Kirtland AFB, where he has held multiple acquisition positions over the last 16 years, including as director of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate.
During his career, Hammett has led more than 30 successful field demonstrations of optical and directed energy technologies for space surveillance, missile defense, force protection, air superiority and global precision attack mission needs.
He also published more than 14 technical papers in national and international journals and conference proceedings.
AFNWC was established March 31, 2006, as the nuclear-focused center within Air Force Materiel Command. It synchronizes all aspects of nuclear materiel management on behalf of the AFMC commander and in direct support of Air Force Global Strike Command. For more information on AFNWC, visit [https://www.afnwc.af.mil/About-Us/](https://www.afnwc.af.mil/About-Us/).