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ORNL Military Fellows Program

Collage of silhouettes of military members, military plane formation, computer code, the pentagon, and Oak Ridge main campus

The Department of Defense benefits from the research produced by ORNL. Service members with knowledge of Department of Defense (DoD) challenges are charged with engaging with ORNL researchers to find opportunities for collaboration and solutions. The United States Army, Navy, and Air Force, historically send Fellows for tours of duty at ORNL to get in-depth exposure to ORNL’s R&D mission sets, relative to national security. The Fellows present a comprehensive report at the end of their year and infuse the possibilities for partnerships between various DoD stakeholders and ORNL directorates and research projects.

Fellows are offered the opportunity to collaborate with R&D staff working to answer complex national security questions.

For the past 19 years, the collaboration between the Department of Defense and ORNL has led directly to projects of impact.

Meet the Current Military Fellows

Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force
Major, United States Air Force
Matt Postupack poses outside at ORNL main campus
ORNL welcomes Bomber Pilot, Major Matt Postupack, USAF, as a new military fellow

For Major Matt “Sting” Postupack, a year won't be enough time to absorb the applications of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s national security research to Air Force challenges.
Lt. Col. Cooper poses outside
ORNL welcomes Lt. Col. Brett Cooper, USAF, as a new military fellow

The National Security Science Directorate hosts military fellows for a one-year assignment starting in early summer. Military fellows have a technical background suitable to recognizing opportunities for the military to partner with a national laboratory. Out of about 250 lieutenant colonels, Cooper was one of two chosen to head to East Tennessee.

Craig Moss, Micah McCracken, Moe Khaleel, and Jessica Critcher post for a photo
ORNL military fellows graduate, recount national lab experience

Lt. Col. Critcher and Maj. McCracken present their findings and bid farewell before departing ORNL.
ORNL welcomes military fellows from the United States Air Force
Military Fellows Promote Collaboration to Apply Science to National Security Challenges

Lieutenant Colonel Jessica Critcher, USAF, and Major Michal McCracken, USAF, arrived at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) in July, 2021, with one task from the Pentagon: scour ORNL’s research for applicable solutions to Department of Defense (DoD) challenges.
Lt. Col. Jessica Critcher
Air Force Fellow seeks research to mutually benefit DoD and ORNL

For Lieutenant Colonel Jessica Critcher, United States Air Force, professional development means having experience as both a training administrator and a student of research.
Maj. Micah McCracken
Air Force Military Fellow looks for impact in all the right places

Major Micah McCracken, United States Air Force, knows impact doesn’t necessarily come from obvious places.