Mr. Richard J Benney
Director, Soldier Sustainment Directorate
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command
Soldier Center, Natick, Massachusetts
Mr. Richard J. Benney was selected as the Associate Director of the Soldier Sustainment Directorate (SSD) at the DEVCOM Soldier Center, Natick, Massachusetts, effective October 2020.
He is responsible for approximately 215 scientists, engineers, equipment specialists, military personnel and other SME. The SSD consists of three Divisions: The Aerial Delivery Division which conducts research and engineering in military parachuting and aerial delivery systems; The Combat Feeding Division whose mission is to ensure that America’s Warfighters are the world’s most capable fighting force by providing an operationally relevant research and development base to deliver solutions for evolving field feeding challenges; and The Engineered Systems Division whose focus includes providing the science and technology (S&T) of mission command platforms and deception for the U.S. Army.
From December 2012 to October 2020, Mr. Benney was the Director of the Aerial Delivery Directorate responsible for working on aerial delivery research and development programs for the Army and many related projects across the Department of Defense (DoD).
Mr. Benney began his career for the U.S. Army in April 1991 as an Aerospace Engineer at Natick, where he served as a research engineer making breakthrough advances in high performance computer modeling of parachute systems. Mr. Benney was the Technical Manager (TM) for the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) Program (FY04-FY08) and was responsible, or a key contributor, for the execution of nearly all DoD JPADS S&T and Rapid Combat Fielding aerial delivery programs executed within the Army. Mr. Benney was also the TM of the Joint Medical Distance Support and Evacuation (JMDSE) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) (FY09-11). He also served as the chairman of the NATO Joint Precision Airdrop Capabilities Working Group (JPACWG) 2005-2013, which was responsible for meeting precision airdrop requirements under the NATO Conference of National Armament Directors (CNAD). Mr. Benney has published over 70 technical papers on airdrop systems and related technology and was the lead DoD and NATO organizer for nine separate international precision airdrop demonstrations hosted in the U.S., Australia and France from 1999 through 2009.
Mr. Benney has both a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University, Boston, MA (1987 & 1989 respectively) and a M.S in Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (1990).
Mr. Benney is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions throughout his career, including: Assistant Secretary of Defense (Research & Engineering) Award for JCTD Team of the Year – JMDSE JCTD 2011; Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition Technology & Logistics) Award for ACTD/JCTD Team of the Year – JPADS 2007; Commanders Award for Civilian Service 2007 & 2011; Ten Outstanding Army Materiel Command Personnel of the Year, 2005. Mr. Benney graduated from the U.S. Army Basic Airborne Jump School (1998) as a civilian and has performed over 30 static line jumps with military personnel, most recently at the LEAPFEST completion August 2019.
