Michael Kalinski

Experience

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  USS HIGGINS (DDG 76), U. S. Navy

  Nov 1998 - Jun 2002

  Division Officer

  * Navy Surface Warfare Officer, serving in multiple billets onboard a U.S. Navy Aegis guided-missile destroyer, leading over twenty division personnel and watch teams responsible for the safe operation of the ship at sea and inport.* Main Propulsion Division Officer during the ship's final phases of construction, acceptance, commissioning, and Shakedown operations, including post-shakedown shipyard maintenanace during 1998 through 2000. * Legal, Administrative, and Training Officer throughout the ship's maiden deployment to the U.S. Fifth Fleet's Area of Operations in 2000 and 2001. Show less

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  Program Management Office, Strategic Systems Programs - Flight Systems, U.S. Navy

  Feb 2005 - Mar 2007

  Section Head, Trident II D5 Missile and Reentry Systems Engineering

  * Supervised and led over forty government engineers and program managers in executing technical support for the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile flight hardware, software, documentation, and reentry systems.* Led the Program Office's advanced programs team during development of the Submarine-Launched Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, through the trade studies, solid rocket motor design and production, and successful static test of the rocket motors, all within 16 months. This initiative demonstrated a concept capability to provide a new and affordable weapons system to meet emerging threats and answer a U.S. Strategic Command desire to counter strategic threats with tactical (non-nuclear) weapons.*Achieved certification as a Lockheed-Martin Lean-Six Sigma Green Belt, leading a Continuous Improvement event that identified costs savings and efficiencies that totaled more than $1M in a production program that had been over-running budget.* Provided fleet and systems engineering support to operational fleet commands, participating in and leading several technical dispositions of faulted missiles, permitting only high reliability missiles to go to sea in support of the Navy Nuclear Deterrence Mission. Show less

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  Board of Inspection and Survey, U. S. Navy

  Mar 2007 - Dec 2009

  Senior Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence Systems Inspector

  * Served as a Senior Combat Systems Inspector for all Navy shipboard navigation, air traffic control, electronic warfare, radar, fire control and weapons control/decision making systems, conducting over sixty material inspections of surface ships, generating over 3000 material deficiency findings.* Reinvigorated INSURV's Technical Issues Resolution Program, enhancing quality and quantity of inputs of fleet issues by inspectors to the in-service engineer agents at Naval Sea Systems Command and Program Executive Offices, aiding in improving fleet technical support. Coordinated flag-level officer biannual interchanges to resolve issues in a timely manner. During this timeframe, inputs increased by a factor of 3 and issue resolution rates were over 62.5% improved.* Served as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Trials, managing the acceptance by the Navy of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar and Littoral Combat Ships FREEDOM- and INDEPENDENCE-class lead vessels. Coordinated the development of systems test plans for all shipboard systems, personally developing the Combat Systems test plans; developed scoring criteria for the new and unique systems installed on these vessels; and planned the acceptance trial support by INSURV inspection teams.* Performed annual data analysis and assessments to determine systems performance trends, identify ship class issues and trends, and propose changes to inspection elements and scoring, resulting in more holistic assessments that focused on troubled systems, and brought attention to them by acquisition and in-service support agencies. Show less

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  Strategic Systems Programs, U. S. Navy

  Dec 2009 - Feb 2014

  * Deputy Branch Head for the Reentry Systems Branch, with responsibility for developing, producing, maintaining, and managing reentry systems that support the Trident II Strategic Weapons System in the role of nuclear deterrence* Responsible for managing and leading approximately twenty-five civil service engineers and prime contractors in supporting programmatic and lifecycle management of the various types of reentry bodies and their nuclear weapons payloads.* Reviewed and approved operational budgets for the Branch; managed branch training, travel, and performance management functions of subordinates; provided program execution status presentations to senior Strategic Systems Program leaders; and represented the Branch Head in numerous leadership meetings, advocating for Branch positions and communicating command priorities to subordinates. Show less * Led over thirty government engineers and program managers in supporting all elements of the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile including development, systems engineering, flight test operations, and service life evaluation, with approximately $100M in annual budget execution planning and oversight.* Developed a Missile Branch strategic planning and decision making "War Room." Collaborated with branch financial personnel, facilities and operations managers, engineers, and contractor personnel to create a data-driven, holistic decision making process that enabled Missile Branch leaders to make affordable, technically sound business and engineering decisions related to missile development and sustainment. In operation, the "War Room" enabled the branch to reduce and avoid costs, making continuing D5 missile capabilities more affordable while meeting Strategic Systems Programs', Department of the Navy, and Department of Defense budget targets.* Led a 100-person team in the investigation of a missile flight performance anomaly. Oversaw the execution of the test or analysis of over thirty potential root cause scenarios for the failure. Developed strategic communications and reports to the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander, U.S. Strategic Command throughout the investigation. As a result of the detailed investigation, the likelihood of recurrence of the flight failure was assessed as extremely low and provided confidence in the high reliability of the D5 missile.*Spearheaded the investigation into personnel benzene exposure resulting from missile sources of hazard gases and implemented corrective/mitigation actions to ensure safety and compliance with statutory requirements for benzene exposure. Created detailed testing and data collection plans for the full host of operational exposure scenarios, and assessed the results. Developed mitigation procedures for all operational scenarios. Show less * Responsible for New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) (NST) implementation and compliance activities for the U.S. Navy to include development of inspection procedures of U.S. Navy facilities subject to Treaty provisions; provision of data and notifications to the Russian Federation in accordance with Treaty requirements; coordination of policy positions with the Department of Defense and U.S. Inter-Agency to include State Department, National Security Council, and Intelligence Community.* Served as technical advisor/negotiator to the U.S. Delegation in Geneva, Switzerland negotiating the Treaty. Recommended negotiating positions in defense of U.S. Navy equities and provisions related to Navy strategic forces and facilities, while identifying potential solutions to proposed treaty provisos affecting Navy commands. This directly contributed to the United States of America and Russian Federation ratifying the Treaty in February 2011.* Developed, planned, and led a $300M program to implement the requirements associated with Navy strategic force structure reductions resulting from the New START Treaty, including leading a team of technical branch engineers and program managers to formulate the budget, build execution plans, and seek and receive funding from resource sponsors to achieve program objectives. Planned and led the major program to exhibit guided missile submarines within the early years of the Treaty, including the development of inspection procedures that would permit Russian inspectors to exercise their Treaty rights without exposing additional Navy equities to intelligence collection. As a result of this successful program planning and execution, the Navy has complied with all provisions of the Treaty. * Developed Navy-wide implementation and compliance plans in less than 12 months, including Department of the Navy instructions, to execute the Treaty, a feat accomplished three-times faster than the START Treaty. Show less

  • Deputy Branch Head, Trident II Strategic Weapons System Reentry Systems

    Jun 2013 - Feb 2014

  • Engineering Section Head, Trident II D5 Missile Branch

    Jan 2012 - Jun 2013

  • New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) Manager

    Dec 2009 - Jan 2012
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  Strategic Systems Programs, U.S. Navy

  Feb 2014 - Sept 2015

  New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) Manager

  * Hand-picked to return as Manager of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) (NST) to provide leadership and direction in completing the Navy's major strategic arms reduction effort, the removal of 56 submarine ballistic missile launchers from Treaty accountability and to improve commonality efforts between the Navy Strategic Weapons Facilities in executing Treaty requirements.* Responsible for New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) (NST) implementation and compliance activities for the U.S. Navy to include overseeing execution of inspection procedures at U.S. Navy facilities subject to the Treaty; provision of data and notifications to the Russian Federation in accordance with Treaty requirements; continuing coordination of policy positions with the Department of Defense and U.S. Inter-Agency to include State Department, National Security Council, and Intelligence Community.* Served as technical advisor to the U.S. Delegation in Geneva, Switzerland during bilateral talks between the United States and Russian Federation, addressing areas of mutual concern by the parties to the Treaty. Advised U. S. Delegation of Navy positions in defense of U.S. equities and provisions related to Navy strategic forces and facilities, while identifying potential solutions to complex issues/concerns raised by the Russian Federation. * Continued execution of the $300M program to implement the requirements associated with Navy strategic force structure reductions resulting from the New START Treaty, with specific focus on reducing Treaty-accountable ballistic missile launchers on submarines by rendering them incapable of employing strategic offensive arms, a means of complying with force structure reductions required by the Treaty. As a result of this successful program planning and execution, the Navy has complied with all provisions of the Treaty and successfully and cost-effectively removed 56 submarine ballistic missile launchers from Treaty accountability. Show less

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  Strategic Systems Programs, U. S. Navy

  Sept 2015 - May 2018

  Navy Nuclear Deterrence Mission Regulator Assessments Lead

  * Hand-selected as a member the initial team implementing the Navy's Nuclear Deterrence Mission (NNDM) Regulator function, responsible for coordinating end-to-end assessment processes for the Navy strategic mission in collaboration with 13 major Navy commands responsible for providing operational, acquisition, and other technical support to the nuclear deterrence enterprise.* Created staffing and contractor support plans, formulated and executed operating budgets, and developed policy guidance to support the Regulator team's day-to-day and special mission activities, including engagement with the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Office of Chief of Naval Operations, and commands across the Navy Nuclear Weapons Enterprise.* As NNDM Assessments Team Lead, developed the content and coordinated the completion of the inaugural NNDM End-to-End Assessment Report, a product that provided enhanced insight to the Chief of Naval Operations and other senior Navy decision-makers on the current readiness and future sustainability of the Navy Nuclear Deterrence Mission. * Identified assessment focus areas and commands to be assessed for the 2016 Biennial Navy Nuclear Weapons Assessment, including program development activities such as: chartering assessment focus areas in a more holistic manner than previous assessments, briefing the Council of Navy Flag Officers and Senior Executive Service members on the conduct of the upcoming assessment; identifying the organizations and skills sets for assessment team members and training them for the upcoming assessment; initiating a data call for pre-assessment data; coordinating site visits, travel budget planning and funding; coordinating final report generation.* Led the team in the inaugural self-assessment of Regulator team performance, creating a robust program resulting in rapid and continuous improvement being implemented in areas of team organization, data analysis processes/capabilities, and reporting processes. Show less

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  Strategic Systems Programs, Department of the Navy

  Aug 2018 - Jan 2022

  Navy Nuclear Deterrence Mission Regulator Assessments Lead
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  Strategic Systems Programs

  Jan 2022 - Feb 2024

  Flight Test Instrumentation & Range Operations Unit Head

  *Supervisory General Engineer responsible for the the team leading flight test instrumentation planning and Range support for the Fleet Ballistic Missile flight test program.*Oversaw the planning and conduct of 4 flight test missions totaling 10 missiles tests, providing insights into D5LE missile system performance and accuracy.*Served as Chairperson of Flight Test Working Groups within Strategic Systems Programs and as co-chairman on several joint-service or broader collaborative flight test planning teams with Air Force and Missile Defense Agency equities. Helped formulate agendas and facilitated stakeholder dialog to address both near term flight test implementation planning needs and to plan for long term flight support needs as new missile and reentry body programs are introduced. Helped missile and reentry systems development program representatives identify flight data collection requirements and desires and assess the current and projected capability of the instrumentation community to support those needs, identifying gaps and shortfalls that required programming and budgeting actions.*Worked with USAF Sentinel program and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to fund and acquire a broad ocean area terminal area scoring and test capability (BOA TASTC) to provide a multi-service supporting instrumentation suite to collect radar, telemetry, optical and acoustic data in the impact area for various DoD flight tests. Oversaw the award of contracts to deliver capabilities, as well as exercised contract management and technical oversight of development and production efforts through Systems Requirements Reviews and Preliminary Design Reviews for contracted systems.* Oversaw the planning and execution of multiple budget packages across the breadth of the program to include US flight test and range support, UK SSBN flight test and range support for both in-service and DREADNOUGHT-class flight system testing, and D5LE2 and Mk7 development program efforts. Show less

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  Strategic Systems Command

  Feb 2024 - now

  Command Risk & Opportunity Process Manager

  *Serves as the Command Risk and Opportunity Process Manager for Strategic Systems Programs, responsible for developing and promulgating guidance and direction related to command risk and opportunity program management for all technical branches, field activities, and portfolio managers within the SSP claimancy.*Develops and manages/oversees training on SSP risk and opportunity management processes, as well as on the use of the SSP's Risk and Opportunity Register. Helps formulate requirements for the Registry tool and provides oversight of the implementation and use of the tool by responsible organizations, providing a QA function for inputs from participating organizations to ensure quality, standardization, and compliance with requirements.*Advises Senior command leaders and decision makers on the overall command risk posture and presents summaries of risks generated across all stakeholder organizations and programs in support of budget review cycles and other program gating functions, particularly those requiring escalation.* Supports the generation and presentation of enterprise-level risks for external engagements, as directed by the program Director or its Board of Directors. Show less