Lt. Col. Carol Welsch

Col Carol P. Welsch is Acting Director, Space Development and Test Directorate, Kirtland AFB. The Space Development and Test Directorate's mission is to deliver small, responsive space capabilities to users across the National Security Space community. The Directorate consists of a combined team of 1,000+ military, government civilians and contractors responsible for the development, acquisition, launch, demonstration, test and operations of DoD and civil space systems Col Welsch graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering, and completed Rensselaer’s Air Force ROTC program as a distinguished graduate. Col Welsch’s career includes a diverse set of assignments as an engineer in the space acquisition, space operations, cruise missile flight test, and strategic intelligence fields. Col Welsch briefly left the engineering field to serve as an Air Force Legislative Fellow to the Office of Senator Wayne Allard. As a member of Senator Allard’s staff, she was responsible for all homeland security issues and assisted on military and space legislative issues. She followed this fellowship with assignments to the Air Staff Directorate of Space Operations and the Office of Legislative Liaison, where she served as the Secretary of the Air Force’s focal point for all Air Force space legislative issues. Col Welsch graduated with Academic Distinction from the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, AL in 2008. Her assignment prior to Kirtland AFB was Los Angeles AFB where she served as the Director of Engineering, Space Superiority Systems Wing (SYSW), Space and Missile Systems Center. As the SYSW Director of Engineering, she was responsible for systems engineering, technology development and development planning of a $4B space control enterprise including space situational awareness and counterspace systems. EDUCATION: 1988 Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1991 Masters of Aeronautical Science in management, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 1993 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL 1999 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence 2001 Air Force Legislatives Fellow Program, Washington, DC 2006 Air War College, by correspondence 2008 Master of Science in Strategic Studies and Air War College, Maxwell AFB, AL