Colonel Douglas P. Wickert

Col Wickert is the Commander, 412th Test Wing, Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California. He leads a wing of nearly 8,000 personnel in the developmental test and evaluation of the KC-46, KC-135, KC-10, C-17, C-5, F-35, F-22, F-16, B-21, B-1, B-2, B-52, eT-7A, RQ-4 and emerging technologies. Additionally, Col Wickert is the Installation Commander responsible for base operations support for more than 19,500 active duty, reserve, civil service, and defense industrial base contractors at the second largest base in the U.S. Air Force, and Operating Location Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.

Col Wickert was commissioned in 1995 as a distinguished graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and holds advanced engineering degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). He has commanded at multiple levels and served in a variety of technology development and program management assignments. Col Wickert was previously Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Aeronautics, U.S. Air Force Academy, the #1 ranked undergraduate Aeronautics program in the country. He also served as the Chair of the Engineering Division and led the largest engineering department at the Academy with more than 60 faculty and researchers supporting education and research in aerodynamics, flight mechanics, propulsion, hypersonics, aircraft structures, and experimental methods.