Kathleen Koehler Paige | |
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Rear Admiral Kathleen K. Paige, 1998.
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Nickname(s) | Kate |
Born | 1948-present Schenectady, New York |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/branch | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1971-2005 |
Rank | Rear Admiral |
Unit | Program Director, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) |
Commands held | Naval Surface Warfare Center, Arlington, Virginia |
Awards | Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (3 awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (3 awards), and the Navy Achievement Medal |
Other work | Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance board |
Rear Admiral Kathleen K. Paige was the Program Director, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), the sea-based element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) under development by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Rear Admiral Paige retired on 22 November 2005 after 34 years of active service.
Rear Admiral Paige was born in Schenectady, New York in August 1948, and raised in Scotia, New York. Her grandmother, Mary Tobin, was a chief yeoman in World War I. She is a 1970 graduate of the University of New Hampshire and was commissioned in 1971.
Rear Admiral Paige’s first tour of duty was at VFP-63, San Diego, California. Subsequent tours of duty included Fleet Combat Direction System Support Activity, San Diego; Acquisition Manager in the Navy’s Standard Embedded Computer Resource Office, Arlington, Virginia; Aegis C3 Warfare Officer and Combat Systems Baseline Manager, Aegis Shipbuilding Program; Chief Engineer, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division; and Technical Director, Aegis Program Office.
Her first Flag Officer assignment was as Commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Arlington, Virginia, in July 1996. In June 1998, she assumed duties as the Director, Theater Air and Missile Defense and Systems Engineering (TAMD&SE) in the Program Executive Office for Theater Surface Combatants (PEO TSC). As Director, TAMD&SE, she led the Interoperability Task Force, which coordinated the joint efforts of five program offices across three Systems Commands to complete a successful Operational Evaluation of the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). In April 1999, she was concurrently assigned as the first ASN (RDA) Chief Engineer, the Department of the Navy’s senior technical authority for the development of system and technical architectures designed to improve the integration and interoperability of Navy and Marine Corps weapon, combat, and C4I systems.