Colonel Maryann Karlen

Col. Maryann Karlen is the 46th Commandant of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California. She leads the world’s premier aerospace test school in forming future test leaders and advancing test research, administering Air University’s most demanding Master’s degree program, graduating over 100 military and civilian students annually from the Flight, Space and Enlisted Test Courses in support of multidomain test operations across the Department of Defense, NASA and more than 20 Partner nations. The school’s elite staff of 131 execute the most complex flying program in the Department of the Air Force, leveraging 5,000 flying hours in 35 diverse aircraft, as well as the most complex space program in the United States Space Force, operating upwards of 30 space systems annually. The school is home to the X-62A, the world’s first fighter autonomy testbed, generating cutting-edge test research in partnership with leading academic and industry teams.

Karlen graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and an Air Force ROTC commission. She served as a C-17 Instructor Pilot, flying missions across the globe and combat missions in support of OPERATIONs ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM. Col Karlen was selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards and served as a test pilot in the KC-10, KC-135, C-17. She was then selected as an Exchange officer to the U.K. where she served as Director of Operations and a Test Pilot, becoming the first American qualified on the A400M. Col Karlen commanded the Air Mobility Command Test and Evaluation Squadron with 29 different Air Force Specialty Codes spread across six geographically separated locations and executing a $460,000 test budget. Prior to her current assignment, Col Karlen was the Deputy Commander for the Air Force Test Center.