We give great respect and gratitude to Vice Admiral Jon Hill, the director of MDA from 2019 to 2023, for his tremendous leadership and stability over the Missile Defense Agency during our nation’s biggest political swings in Presidential power coupled with the reality of the combat missile threat facing the nation and our allies in Europe and Taiwan. The Missile Defense world has changed dramatically since VADM Hill came in as the Director of MDA in 2019 as he led it in a nonpartisan even keel from the extreme challenges put forth by Former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Mike Griffen, Cost Analysis Program Evaluation (CAPE), and strong debates in the Department of Defense on the missile defense architecture of Guam. Both of those outcomes will be the legacy of VADM Hill’s service at MDA, that includes the birth and development of the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) and the soon to be deployed Missile Defense Capabilities in Guam. His stability and strength of the successes with the Long Range Discrimination Radar in Alaska, delivering the SM3 Block IIA weapon system to the U.S. Navy, and the Aegis Baseline 9 development are commendable as is his leadership in setting the seed and initial capability for the defense against Hypersonic Glide Vehicles and the advancement of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS). VADM Jon Hill kept MDA relevant and held our nations missile defense focus to the mission directed by the Department of Defense policy ensuring missile defense against NK for the US Homeland. His leadership advanced the SM-6 missile system beyond its initial capabilities to provide the warfighter with a weapon that is unrivaled in the world. VADM Hill is to be admired by the dynamics of the having a small budget that was asked to do more and to provide capacity capabilities to the Joint Force and each of the different COCOMs while adhering to political and policy restraints is a skill set that he has mastered of all the previous MDA directors. As the Leader, VADM Hill set the pace for the culture of the Missile Defense Industry Complex, that is being forced to transition, is commended. 

VADM Hill has led through an exceptional period of World History with the knowledge and experience of keeping our Homeland Safe from Ballistic Missile Attacks. He has stood the watch and he has done it with great success for the betterment of our Warfighters and all of our citizens here and around the world with and for our allies.

Great respect for VADM Hill given as the actions of a man speak louder and truer.