REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — Richard De Fatta, deputy to the commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, will retire from civil service Friday after nearly five decades in the space and missile defense field. For the past four years, he has served as the command’s senior civilian, overseeing SMDC’s Technical Center, Center of Excellence, and Army space and missile defense programs.
“This job is the first job I ever had where I wasn’t in charge,” De Fatta said jokingly. “All the successes with which I am associated were from guiding the efforts of very talented teams. That’s one of the things that you find out about USASMDC; we have an incredible team of professional Soldiers, engineers, scientists and administrators who work very well together.”
Before becoming deputy, De Fatta served as director of the Technical Center and the Capability Development and Integration Directorate at the Future Warfare Center. He also established the SMDC Center of Excellence and served as its first director. Among his proudest achievements, he said, was leading SMDC to earn the Best Place to Work in the Army award multiple years in a row…