Speakers

Col. Paul Calhoun joined DARPA in June 2020 as a program manager in the Tactical Technology Office (TTO). His areas of research and expertise include human-machine teaming, directed energy, flight test, wireless power transfer, and next-generation aerospace vehicle concepts.

Calhoun joins DARPA after completing senior developmental education at the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resources Strategy, where he researched disruptive technology applications for special operations. Prior to that, he was commander of the U.S. Air Force 418th Flight Test Squadron and director of the Global Reach Combined Task Force. There, he led a test force of approximately 340 military service members, civilians, and contractors responsible for developmental test and evaluation of global mobility aircraft and parachute systems.

Calhoun is an experimental test pilot who began his operational career as a C-17 pilot at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina supporting Special Operations. He deployed multiple times in support of operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn, where he totaled more than 1,100 combat hours.

Calhoun is returning to DARPA after serving the agency as an Air Force Fellow in both 2012 and 2015. He received his commission from the Air Force Academy in 2002, and then earned a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's degree in flight test engineering from the USAF Test Pilot School, and a master's degree in national resource strategy. He attended pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.

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