Aerotech News and Review, April 5, 2019

Mentorship propels AFTC vice commander’s career
by Giancarlo Casem
Edwards AFB, Calif.
Have fun, try something new, and give back and mentor are three parts that make up Col. An- gela Suplisson’s life mantra.
“I try to have fun in everything I do — whether at work or at home. A little bit of fun and camaraderie at work makes the team more productive,” she said. “Trying something new means to be open to new opportunities that may be offered to you or new ideas that you hadn’t considered before.”
Suplisson currently serves as the vice com- mander of the Air Force Test Center, headquar- tered at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Of the three tenets of her mantra, she said giving back and mentoring is the most important.
“I am grateful that I have had so many mentors in my career who took their time to give me ad- vice and point me in the right direction,” Suplis- son said. “I want to pay that back by mentoring others and helping them to achieve their goals.”
Being in an academic environment at the U.S. Air Force Academy allowed her to do just that. Prior to serving as the AFTC’s vice commander, she served at the USAFA in Colorado. While at the academy, she served as the head of the Department of Aeronautics, the USAFA UAS Center director and as an assistant professor.
“Teaching cadets at the U.S. Air Force Acad- emy — seeing them grow from freshmen to seniors as they learn to be leaders of character and become second lieutenants, and seeing them excel as they go on to new adventures once they graduate,” she said. “The absolute best reward I’ve received as an educator is hearing back from my students once they are officers. I love hear- ing about the amazing things they have accom- plished in their personal and professional lives, and I enjoy living vicariously through them. I take great pride in knowing that we’ve pre- pared these men and women to be officers in the world’s greatest Air Force who have the skills to make a positive difference in our world.”
Suplisson’s career spans multiple assign- ments. She has been involved flight testing the F-15, F-15E, F-16 and even the F-117. She said it would be difficult to simply pick one or two most memorable assignments, however she does admit one of the most memorable ones include her time at the University of Lyon III, in France, under the Olmsted Scholarship program, due to a life-changing event.
“The Olmsted Scholarship changed my life and opened my eyes in many ways, mostly be- cause I was outside my comfort zone living in France and studying political science at a French university and this allowed me to grow,” Suplis- son said. “The Olmsted experience changed my life because it was in France that I met my won- derful husband, Fabrice. The Olmsted Scholar- ship opened my eyes because living in a foreign country and attending a foreign university al- lowed me to put myself in someone else’s shoes and appreciate others’ viewpoints. I tried to use
Courtesy photograph
Col. Angela Suplisson, Air Force Test Center vice commander, and Bill Gray, Air Force Test Pilot School chief test pilot, pose for a photo in front of a TPS F-16. Suplisson graduated from the TPS in 1995 and is set to retire later this year.
this experience to make me a better officer and leader.”
Suplisson was a Distinguished Graduate in the French Basic Course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., in 2001. She earned a Master’s degree in International Policy and Strategy following her time in France in 2003.
Another personal memorable experience was working on ejection seat testing, hypersonic weapons testing with the 846th Test Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., and automatic ground collision avoidance systems.
“One of the jobs I’m most proud of is being the squadron commander of the Holloman High Speed Test Track in New Mexico. I was part of a team of exceptionally skilled professionals who performed ejection seat testing as well as subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic weapons testing,” Suplisson said. “The skilled craftsmen and engineers are the best at what they do, and
we tested and improved the design of the F-35 ejection seat, several bunker busters and hyper- sonic weapons.”
She said the Mach 6 runs down the track were especially fun because they involved almost all of 120-person squadron to execute the mission planning, setup, execution, tear down and data analysis.
“It was teamwork at its finest,” she said.
Suplisson also had a small role in the devel- opment of Auto-GCAS for the F-16. That small role would eventually lead her to research and develop an Auto-GCAS algorithm for larger aircraft; transports, tankers and bombers, for her Ph.D. The eventual goal of the research is to prevent controlled flight into terrain accidents in all heavy military aircraft, she said.
Throughout her career she has seen big chang- es in how more women are in leadership posi- tions. Women were not integrated equally with
the Air Force until 1976. Women had previously served with the Women of the Air Force, and the Women’s Army Corps as aviators before that. Suplisson said she felt lucky to not have to face many challenges as a woman in the Air Force.
“I owe that completely to all of the amazing and strong women who paved the way before me, as well as the men who supported them,” she said. “These women and men blazed the trail and removed obstacles so that I didn’t have to.”
“When I was a lieutenant I didn’t have any female role models in the Air Force whom I knew personally. I was inspired by Test Pilot School grads and astronauts Eileen Collins and Susan Helms, and I wanted to be like them,” she said. “I also had many fantastic male mentors and role models who supported me and helped me achieve my goals. As I progressed in the Air
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