Director, JCTD Office,
Office of Secretary of Defense


Biography:

Mrs. Hicks currently serves in the Director, Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology & Logistics). She attended the Pennsylvania State University and is an alumnus of the University of Virginia. Mrs. Hicks graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Systems Engineering and is licensed by the Virginia State Board of Architects and Engineers.

Mrs. Hicks began her career in industry at the IBM Corporation in 1985 at the Federal Systems Division, and later worked for IBM’s Systems Integration Division. At IBM, she was promoted to Senior Associate Engineer/Scientist and received several IBM honors.

Mrs. Hicks began her federal career in the Department of the Navy. She served as the Tomahawk Weapon Systems Integration and Requirements Division Head in the Systems Engineering Division of PEO(Cruise Missile and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). She was responsible for the systems engineering and integration of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, Fire Control Systems (ship and submarine), and the Mission Planning System.

In May of 1995, Mrs. Hicks took an assignment as Special Assistant to the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology & Logistics). At the conclusion of that assignment, she was asked to take a permanent position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Systems Engineering Directorate.

Mrs. Hicks was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in June 2002, and was appointed to lead a Government-wide Task Force on Inventory Systems under the auspices of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury, Director OPM and Director OMB.

Mrs. Hicks served as the Deputy Director, Systems Interoperability and acted as the Principal Deputy to the Director, Interoperability from its establishment in 1999 to it disestablishment in 2006. She also served as the Deputy Director, Joint Forces Integration from its establishment until the disestablishment in June 2009. Mrs. Hicks also served as the Director, Joint Interoperability where she lead the establishment and oversight of many DoD joint tactical interoperability initiatives. Mrs. Hicks has conducted both radio and print interviews on the subject of tactical interoperability.


Presentation Title:  Cyber Resilience at Our Major Combatant Commands