Memories of a contributor to AEGIS BMD & AEGIS Ashore Success
I first encountered Kevin when we were both assigned to a working party on a program transitioning from demonstration to full development and deployment via a competitive acquisition.
I had been hired to write the Capability Development Document (ORD for us old folks). Problem was that we had to figure out what we were able to build first and get it specified in some manner that the industry partners had some hope of bidding against. The specification existed in a Word document that would get randomly edited, managed by public editing sessions. We had an uphill battle to get processes in place to get control of our specification, risks, and handle feedback from industry partners.
Kevin was a key ally in establishing needed system engineering discipline. I understood he had worked in civil engineering, and had gone back later in life for a physics Phd. He had an amazing ability to take any problem from first principles (F=MA) and completely wrangle the problem to submission.
The program was interesting. Many folks on the working party were focused on which horse was selected, and trying to undo said selection, rather than figuring out how to adjust tactics and weapons employment to make the selected horse militarily effective. Somehow the integration challenges between horse and rider got kicked all the way to SecNav level, who ended up adjudicating issues that you would have expected to be handled at IPT, PM, or maybe at the PEO level.
One major issue was how well the rider could see while riding the horse. In short order, from first principles, Kevin developed a complete model of horse and rider interaction. Within days, his results were influencing decisions at SecNav level. (Later, as the model was being “verified” and “validated” by our assigned partner laboratory, they claimed there was an egregious error – the Euler transforms were not applied in the correct order. However, his order was consistent and the results were correct.)
Due to ongoing arguments between the horse and rider, one idea was to see if the AEGIS CSEA model might resolve some of the disconnects between the partners. Our attempts with this path to resolution were shot down with a single sentence from the PEO:
“Everyone knows that AEGIS is generally considered a failed program.”
Around the time of the satellite shoot down, some number of us had enough of the horse-rider disagreements and decamped to AEGIS BMD. Kevin ended up on the system engineer staff, and helped refocus system engineering processes as the organization continued to grow, managing increased baselines and capabilities.
Shortly we had an administration change with a complete refocus on BMD priorities. The third site was cancelled, and all options were back on the table. As an “industry” rep, I was pretty much kept out of the inner circle of this working party, but I have no doubt that Kevin was front and center, working through the performance of AEGIS contributions to the possible solutions.
Out of this reassessment came the phased adaptive approach, with AEGIS at the core. (Interestingly enough, the PAA was announced while we were assembling to bury RADM Meyer at Arlington.)
With the emergence of AEGIS Ashore replacing the third site, Kevin moved to the AEGIS Ashore program staff. He was key to solving how to manage radar wave guide tolerances in a facility that had to be disassembled within specified times (the “bug-out” requirement), along with other civil engineering – radar arcana. His background in civil engineering combined with physics, and his intellect and ability to tackle any problem from first principles were exactly what was needed.
CAPT Jeff Weston said of his efforts with AEGIS Ashore:
…. Kevin worked with me on the Aegis Ashore project and was a critical member of the deckhouse design team. He had a brilliant mind and no patience for a guy like me. We bumped heads occasionally but became good friends as the program progressed. I must give credit where credit is due, and it was Kevin’s long hours working on the 3-D design of the common Aegis Ashore deckhouse (Hawaii, Romania, Poland) that made a huge impact on the early success of the program. His efforts were recognized by the Missile Defense Agency as a 2014 Technology Achievement Award Winner.
Capt Jeff Weston, Linked In
As a critical member of the deckhouse design team in just three years, two deckhouses were designed, developed and constructed. Additionally, during this period the Aegis Weapon System was integrated installed, and successfully tested three times in the deckhouses. This design enabled the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex in Hawaii to go from construction contract award in June of 2012 to the first successful flight test less than two years later in May of 2014.
A brilliant man and I was honored to have worked with him.
Kevin enjoyed riding his BMW motorcycle, and was traveling the country in his RV after retirement.
Kevin was a key contributor to the success of two major DoD programs, one of the quiet heroes that deliver effective capability to the warfighter, and that have made AEGIS BMD (and AEGIS) an enduring, operationally relevant capability (despite the PEO quoted above).
https://neptunesociety.com/obituaries/santa-barbara-ca/kevin-brennan-10894667
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242824796/kevin-brennan#source
USS Arleigh Burke Association 