Blackhurst started his military career in 1975 as communications electronics officer of the 509th Bomb Wing and held management roles across the branch following his master’s degree completion in 1979 at the Air Force Institute of Technology, also at Wright-Patterson. He achieved the rank of colonel on his military retirement in 2004.
He is the principal assistant to the commander of AFRL, Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, and the senior civilian executive responsible for managing the Air Force’s $2.5 billion science and technology program, with an additional $2.3 billion of externally funded research and development.
“Jack has been a force of nature and we will miss him — not only at AFRL, but also AFMC, the Air Force and Space Force,” Pringle said in a Facebook post. “He leaves a long string of mission successes and a strong pipeline of talent.”
After his military retirement, he moved to AFRL as director for the Human Effectiveness Directorate, 711th Human Performance Wing. He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in January 2010.
As AFRL executive director, he oversees a government workforce of about 6,000 people in the laboratory’s nine component technology directorates and 711th Human Performance Wing.
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