Missile Defense Agency (Nov. 22, 2005): Rear Adm. Hicks relieves Rear Adm. Paige as commander and program director of Aegis BMD.

Air Force Lieutenant General Henry "Trey" Obering, Missile Defense Agency director, announced today that Rear Adm. Alan B. Hicks relieves Rear Adm. Kathleen K. Paige as the commander and program director of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). The change of command took place at a Nov. 22 ceremony in Arlington, Va.

The ceremony also marked Paige's retirement after 34 years of service. Her tenure at the helm of Aegis BMD was filled with many firsts. As the plank-owner program director, she was responsible for putting the initial increment of Aegis BMD to sea. She led the development and deployment of the world's first sea-based ballistic missile defense capability: a long-range surveillance and tracking (LRS & T) system that reports flight information on intercontinental ballistic missiles to the Ballistic Missile Defense System's land-based ballistic missile engagement capability. Her disciplined systems engineering approach and leadership resulted in repeated firing mission successes while increasing the operational realism of each test to establish Aegis BMD's legacy to "test how we fight."

Her program testing successes were key to meeting a challenging schedule to get the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Initial Deployment Rounds and the world's first sea-based engagement capability against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles to the fleet.

By the end of her tenure, she had firmly established Aegis BMD's "We Deliver" reputation throughout the missile defense community with 11 ships fitted with the Long Range Surveillance and Track capability and two ships with the ballistic missile engagement capability. Aegis BMD's accomplishments and the system's promise were validated by the decision of the Government of Japan to invest in the Aegis BMD capability for two of its Aegis destroyers.

In March 2005, concurrent with her program director, Aegis BMD assignment, Paige was selected by the director, Missile Defense Agency to be the first director of Mission Readiness. She assembled and led the Mission Readiness Task Force that reviewed, assessed, and then implemented a rigorous systems engineering approach to the in-service ground-based missile defense flight test program. Her performance as director of Mission Readiness increased congressional and warfighter confidence in the weapon system's readiness and its ability to perform a mission whenever called upon.

At the ceremony, Paige was presented the Defense Superior Service Medal for her "outstanding leadership and ceaseless efforts resulting in major contributions to the national security of the United States."

Media contact is Chris Taylor, Missile Defense Agency, [phone].