The Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance is honored to announce LT Kristen Damico as the Spring 2025 Rear Admiral Kate Paige Military Fellow.
LT Kristen Damico is a native of Milton, GA, and a Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy. Her air defense experience includes five years on USS Howard (DDG-83), completing a Middle East deployment supporting Operation Inherent Resolve and multiple patrols in the Philippine Sea as Fire Control Officer. She then served a three-year tour as an Integrated Air and Missile Defense Warfare Tactics Instructor at Tactical Training Group Pacific in San Diego. Kristen has overseen 10 missile shoots on both Aegis destroyers and amphibious ships. She is a qualified Upper Tier Coordination Officer for the Defense of Israel mission, a qualified Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Officer and Tactical Action Officer, and the 2021 Navy Missile Defender of the Year. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and will be transitioning out of the Navy in the Summer of 2025.
The position is named in honor of Rear Admiral Kathleen K. Paige, MDA’s first Ballistic Missile Defense System Technical Director, the principal advisor to the MDA Director on all matters related to the planning and technical performance of the BMDS; Program Director, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, where she responded to the National Security Presidential Directive of December 2002 by delivering the first operationally authorized Ballistic Missile Defense capability, contributing to the defense of the homeland, in under two years; and Director, Mission Readiness, where she led the introduction of system disciplines and processes needed for predictable, repeatable missile flight test success. These last two positions resulted in four straight successful flight tests, between Aegis BMD and Ground-based Midcourse Defense Program. RADM Paige was an exceptional leader in the field of missile defense.
MDAA established the Rear Admiral Kate Paige Military Fellowship in 2021. This fellowship is open to current members of the United States Armed Forces and veterans who exemplify the exceptional characteristics of its namesake.
She is special and she is special to us. LT Kristen Damico was the 2021 MDAA U.S. Missile Defender of the Year representing the United States Navy.
Winners associate with Winners to Win!
