At the Height of the Golden Dome for America debut in Huntsville, Alabama, we kicked off our 23rd Missile Defense Season at the Van Braun Center at the 28th Space and Missile Defense Symposium.
We were honored to be back in Alabama to host our 23rd Annual Huntsville Breakfast of Champions on Wednesday, August 6, recognizing 7 Missile Defense Champions and our first ever MDAA Golden Ball recipient. We reflected on the past year’s significance, including the Presidential election of Donald Trump and the Golden Dome executive order in the back drop of our Missile Defenses systems deployed around the World, and the support of our Allies’ and Partners’ Missile Defenses against the massive unprecedented daily missile and drone attacks on Ukraine and Israel.
Winners associate with Winners to Win! We extend a special thanks to our Space and Missile Defense Champion leaders that took the time to recognize their Champions by their example, presence and acknowledgment: General Michael A. Guetlein, Program Manager, Golden Dome for America; General Stephen Whiting, Commander, U.S. Space Command; Lieutenant General Heath A. Collins, Director, Missile Defense Agency (MDA); Lieutenant General Sean A. Gainey, Commanding General, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC); Brigadier General Curtis W. King, 10th AAMDC Commanding General; Brigadier General Maurice O. Barnett, Commanding General, U.S. Army Cadet Command; and Brigadier General Richard A. Wholey, Deputy Commanding General, 263rd Army Air Missile Defense Command (AAMDC). We thank Lt Gen Collins and LTG Gainey for their words and their leadership. We too recognize our board members in attendance, J.D. Gainey, Zoah Scheneman, and Vic Mercado.
MDAA’s mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States, its Armed Forces, and its Allies against missile threats. Our foundational successes as an organization are forged from Advocacy for and Recognition of the Warfighter and Missile Defense Leadership Development, both Civilian and Military. These 8 Champions now join 1,642 MDAA Missile Defense Champions for their incredible service to missile defense.
We threw our first ever Golden Ball to the 2025 Missile Defense Agency Champion to Stan Stafira, BMDS Architect for the Missile Defense Agency, who has led the MDA Architecture for the Golden Dome for America and was the lead presenter and “the best presentation” at the Industry Day for the Golden Dome on August 7th.
The 2025 Huntsville Breakfast of Champions Awardees:
The United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command recipients:
Kelly Dimitri
Michael Skelly
Carol Bates
Chief Warrant Officer Eric Villarreal
Scott Meyerhoff
Stephanie Chrisley
Nate Drummond
The Missile Defense Agency Champion:
Stan Stafira
Fight On!
