Michael Glennon first from AEDC chosen for RAND Research Fellowship

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Michael Glennon, AEDC Deputy Technical Director, has been selected to participate in a Senior Development Education Program for the RAND Research Fellowship.

Glennon will be on temporary duty to Santa Monica, California, for 12 months, and while there he will be working with other RAND Research Fellows employing advanced research techniques and working on Air Force-sponsored research. The RAND Fellowship also serves as a leadership training program for senior-level managers and executives.

“From what I’ve been told, no other AEDC civilian employee has been chosen for the RAND Research Fellowship before so it’s really an honor to have been selected,” Glennon said.

During his Fellowship, Glennon will complete an independent research paper as well as make special trips to Washington, D.C., to visit with Air Force senior leaders.

Glennon also mentioned Air Force Project RAND has an interesting tie to AEDC in that its namesake, Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, led the movement to establish such a program.

After World War II, Gen. Arnold, who was Commanding General of the Army Air Force at the time, wrote a report to the Secretary of War, stating, “During this war, the Army, Army Air Forces and the Navy have made unprecedented use of scientific and industrial resources. The conclusion is inescapable that we have not yet established the balance necessary to insure the continuance of teamwork among the military, other government agencies, industry and the universities. Scientific planning must be years in advance of the actual research and development work.”

With the help of Major General Curtis LeMay, head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe; General Lauris Norstad, Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Plans; Edward Bowles of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, consultant to the Secretary of War; Donald Douglas, president of the Douglas Aircraft Company; Arthur Raymond, chief engineer at Douglas; and Franklin Collbohm, Raymond's assistant; this effort culminated in the new, private organization, later known as Project RAND.

Glennon mentioned he did not consider the Project RAND assignment until he was with the Arnold Junior Force Council touring Oak Ridge National Laboratories, which partners with industry for advanced research.

“There was a couple of officers and civilians there working on interesting experimental projects and I thought to myself, “how can I be part of something like that?’”

So, he applied to the RAND Program in April 2017 and learned early this year he had been one of two civilians selected out of 142 who applied.

“I am excited for the opportunity to be part of the Air Force Project RAND research team that Gen. Arnold established in 1946,” he said.
Glennon will have the opportunity to work with 3,000-plus RAND research and Air Force senior leaders as part of his one-year assignment. He will be departing this summer to complete his fellowship and will return to Arnold in June 2019.

For more information about RAND, visit: https://www.rand.org/