Director, Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office (M&S CO)
In August 2007, Mr. Jesse Citizen assumed the position of M&S CO Director, where he will leverage his broad understanding of DoD missions, professional military operations and modeling and simulation experience. Prior to assuming his role as the M&S CO Director, Mr. Citizen was an Air Force Colonel with over 33 years of service. His last military position was Chief, Modeling and Simulation Policy Division, in the U.S. Air Force Headquarters, Washington DC, where he was responsible for developing all modeling and simulation policy for the Air Force and providing oversight for all Air Force centrally-managed M&S programs.
Originally from Beaumont, Texas, Mr. Citizen gained his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force in 1979 after graduating from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. He has an extensive civilian education and professional military background, including three Masters degrees, completion of the Marine Command and Staff College and Air Command and Staff College and attendance at the prestigious Air War College.
Mr. Citizen has held a wide variety of operational positions including Air Battle Manager duties within the North American Air Defense system Tactical Air Control System and over 1700 hours onboard the NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). His international experience includes Chief of the Air Command and Control Interoperability Section at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), now Allied Command Operations, where he oversaw the development of NATO Air Defense Systems, political-military policy and operations requirements. In addition, Mr. Citizen served as the Chief of the Air Force M&S Policy Division, military assistant to the Air Force Chief Information Officer, readiness evaluator and military assistant to the DOD Inspector General, and Chief, Tactical Control Systems Integrations, Plans and Programs Directorate, Headquarters Air Force. This background, combined with his role as a consultant supporting M&S activities in DoD's Training Transformation program, provides him a deep appreciation for the direct benefits of M&S to DoD missions, operations, and Warfighters.
Mr. Citizen's extensive and varied background, rich in both senior-level operations management expertise and an understanding of technology, will help him to generate new emphasis and focus on inter-Service and inter-M&S community coordination. In addition, Mr. Citizen is known for his innovative and consensus-building leadership style empowering those under his direction to articulate and advance DoD M&S vision and goals.