Arnold's 717th Test Squadron changes command

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Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Lt. Col. Najeeb Ahmed is the new commander for Arnold Engineering Development Center's (AEDC) 717th Test Squadron.

Prior to coming to AEDC, Colonel Ahmed was the chief of acquisition programs of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force executive action group. He directly supported the SECAF, CSAF, undersecretary of the Air Force, Vice Chief of Staff, the Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force and other senior Air Force leaders.

He prepared speeches, briefings, policy proposals and developed studies on Air Force structure, missions and operations directly impacting current and future fighting capabilities. Colonel Ahmed is a native of Prairie Village, Kansas and was commissioned in the Air Force in 1991 as a ROTC graduate the University of Michigan.

Following an administrative delay to obtain his masters at the University of Kansas he entered into active duty August 1992. He began his career as a developmental engineer at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif.

He then entered the acquisition workforce supporting Foreign Military Sales in the F-16 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He then returned to engineer¬ing as an aeronautical engineer on the B-1, B-2 and F-22 for 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, ACC. In 1999, he was selected to attend the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, Calif.

After graduating from test pilot school, he remained at Edwards and was assigned to the 416th Flight Test Squadron where he performed avionics tests on F-16s and later served as the squadron's chief flight test engineer. In 2002, he moved to the Pentagon as an Under Secretary of Defense, Developmental Test and Evaluation intern.

Next, while assigned to the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office from 2003 to 2005, he served as theflight test verification manager as well as the Executive Officer to the Program Executive Officer. From 2005 to 2007 he was assigned to the Directorate of Global Power, as the F-16 Program Ele¬ment Monitor then as the Chief, Congressional Actions Branch. During this time he deployed to Bosnia in support of Operation JOINT GUARDIAN.