WASHINGTON — Growing up as a self-described simple country boy in Anderson, South Carolina, Lt. Col. Michael Pope spent many summers on his grandfather’s farm, where something always needed fixing.

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (September 16, 2025) – Joel “Parker” Johnson, a U.S. Army Civilian flight test engineer at the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center, is trading his desk for the cockpit after being ...