Brig. Gen. William Cooley, program executive for programs and integration at the Missile Defense Agency, has been appointed as commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AF Base in Ohio, the Defense Department announced Wednesday.
He will lead the laboratory’s efforts to discover, build and integrate warfighting technologies for U.S. air, space and cyber forces.
Cooley joined MDA in August last year and managed a portfolio of ground-based midcourse defense, global deployment, targets and countermeasures as well as the agency’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, joint U.S.-Israel efforts and classified programs.
The 28-year military veteran previously held leadership roles at the Space and Missile Systems Center’s global positioning systems directorate, Phillips Research Site and Materiel Wing and AFRL’s space vehicles directorate.
Some of his previous assignments also include service as program manager for the Air Force’s Distributed Common Ground System, program element monitor for military satellite communications and staff officer of the Warrior Preparation Center at Einsiedlerhof Air Station in Germany.
