Aerospace Systems' New Director Likes What He Sees at AFRL

  • Published
  • By Laura Dempsey
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE --  For C. Douglas Ebersole, coming to the Air Force Research Laboratory as director of the Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ) brought a seismic shift to his perspective.

Ebersole, who came to AFRL after three and one-half years in Washington, D.C., as director of Engineering in the F-35 Joint Program Office, used to lie awake at night thinking about what his office "should" be doing.

"Now when I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm staring at the ceiling, I'm thinking, 'We could do this,'" he said. "It's all about what you could do, not what you should be doing. That's a lens I've never looked through before, and I'm really looking forward to that opportunity. The degree of flexibility we have in how we can take our research dollars, how agile we can be with those - it's a degree of freedom I've not really had. I think that's AFRL. That's systemic of AFRL, and I look forward to that."

Ebersole follows in the footsteps of former director Douglas Bowers, who shepherded the reorganization that merged the Propulsion and Air Vehicles directorates. Ebersole is quick to give credit to his predecessor, admitting that for him, job one is "not to screw this up."

"Everyone I've talked to has said if not for Doug Bowers, we would not have the successes we have today," he said. "Whether you're talking to (retired Lt. Gen.) Leslie Kenne, who did an analysis of the merger and said that this would not have happened without the personal leadership engagement that Doug Bowers put into it, or you run into someone within the lab who says, 'This is working because Doug Bowers took a personal interest in making this successful,' I am benefitting from all the hard work that Doug did. I think right now it's working, and going forward my mode will be to listen to the workforce, and make course adjustments when needed to seize greater opportunities."

He believes RQ is well-positioned for the future, and that the recent budget action to restore funding to the lab is a vote of confidence in AFRL as a whole.

"First, to me, that demonstrates how the department has a lot of confidence, and they understand the importance of science and technology," Ebersole said. "The second thing is that the boss has got some game-changers out there. His four primary game-changers are hypersonics, directed energy, autonomy and energy efficiency, and RQ is all over three of those four. For directed energy, you wouldn't necessarily think of RQ, but whatever they're going to put on that airplane, it's got to be powered and it's got to be cooled, and that's RQ. So we're four for four, and in a position to really help leadership in bringing these technologies forward."

Working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a homecoming for Ebersole and his wife, Teresa, who teaches elementary school in Kettering. They met at a party celebrating his graduation from Wayne High School in Huber Heights, the summer between Teresa's junior and senior year. He went off to Purdue University while she finished high school. She then started college at Wright State University fully aware that marriage - and a transfer to Purdue - was inevitable. They finished their degrees the same year - he was on Purdue's five-year engineering/co-op plan - and came home to Dayton and nearby Wright-Patterson AFB.

"I graduated from Purdue in 1982, and that was during the Reagan build-up, so there were lots of opportunities," Ebersole explained. "I had some pretty good offers, from New York to Florida and from California to Washington. But I co-oped at Wright-Patterson AFB and this was home for Teresa and me. Plus, I knew exactly what I was getting into. I've never regretted it. I'll tell you, the advantage of civil service is that you get to do a lot of different things."

Their two children are grown: daughter Megan graduated from Purdue and now works at an Indianapolis marketing firm; son Charlie is in a doctoral program in psychology at the University of Virginia, having graduated from Miami of Ohio. Neither has followed in Mr. Ebersole's engineering footsteps: "The engineering genes ended with me, apparently," he laughed.

"I often said I've been in this business for over 30 years, and for the last 20 I've done everything on a four-function calculator," he continued. "But you have to understand the basics. The folks in AFRL -- no kidding -- do real engineering and research. Working acquisition programs, which is what I've done most of my career, is more about management. To me, there are three layers of an onion: People, process, product. It's an easy model I use to try to manage work. If you have the right people and the right processes, the product takes care of itself."

He said he is glad to be back at Wright-Patterson AFB after working the F-35 in Washington, which was a great, but grueling, experience. He can't help but compare Washington, D.C. to Dayton and AFRL.

"The F-35 program office in Washington, D.C., is a challenging place to send a young kid right out of college, whether you're a GS-7 or a second lieutenant -- the complexity and the pace," Ebersole said.

"I don't see that here at AFRL. For example, the Air Force vice chief was here in January and 2nd Lieutenant (Mark) Shaker was briefing the number two general in the Air Force on hypersonics. What an opportunity for someone one or two years out of school! It was a one-on-one, engaging discussion and I think during my time here, I'm going to see that replicated time and time again.

"We take our brightest and our youngest, and let them showcase what they do to the highest levels, and that just sort of codifies the opportunity that they have," Ebersole continued. "You come in as a second lieutenant or a brand new civilian right out of school, and you're getting your hands dirty in the labs first on your first day on the job. That's a great attribute that in my view differentiates AFRL as a destination for young employees from other organizations -- both in government and outside government."

His free-time plans include getting re-acquainted with golf and dedicating time to Purdue, where Bowers, another Boilermaker alum, recommended that Ebersole take Bowers' vacated seat on the Steering Advisory Committee for the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

It seems that Ebersole feels right at home.

"I'm part of the Lab team now, and I'm excited about being a part of our critical mission."