Donald Rhea, President & Partner

Donald Rhea has spent more than four decades supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He provides vision and management oversight of ClancyJG International's diverse customer base. His background in engineering, program management, and operations has been instrumental in his contribution to the success of ClancyJG International. Joining ClancyJG International in 2007 as a partner, he serves as the President of the corporation.

As a career systems engineer and operations executive, he has shaped the success of many key government and private industry programs. He provided oversight of program management and business development across the entire ClancyJG International portfolio.

Prior to joining ClancyJG International in 2007, he proudly served the United States Air Force as a radar technician. That experience enabled him to secure a position at the Dryden Flight Research Center, now the Armstrong Flight Research Center, as an electronics technician. He provided flight test support for early UAS programs such as the Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT). He also supported many unique aerospace programs such as the Drones for Aerodynamic and Structural Testing (DAST) active flutter control, AFTI/F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing, F-15 propulsion experiments, and the Space Shuttle. Upon graduation from Chapman University, he supported the Simulation and Remotely Piloted Research Vehicle facility as an electronics engineer. His contribution to the X-29A Forward Swept Wing was development of the simulation cockpit. He also built the cockpit for the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID), a joint NASA-FAA program where a Boeing 720 was deliberately crashed into the Edwards Air Force Base lakebed to test anti-misting kerosene fuel. He was an active participant on the Space Shuttle launch and landing operations team and the STS-26 shuttle support team.

He served as the Manager of NASA's Western Aeronautical Test Range, a national network of tracking and data acquisition systems across Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Facility, and Crows Landing Naval Auxiliary Landing Field. He reported directly to NASA Headquarters' Office of Space Operations, sat on technical committees at the Center, Agency, and DoD level, and represented NASA at conferences on flight test systems and operations. He was awarded a NASA Space Act Award for developing an interactive real-time graphics system for vehicle space positioning. He has authored or co-authored fifteen technical papers on real-time flight test data systems, mission control display design, and post-test data analysis, published in NASA Technical Memoranda, AIAA conference proceedings, International Telemetering Conference proceedings, and Society of Flight Test Engineers symposia.

Upon his departure from NASA, he joined private industry to support the F-22 Raptor weapon system development. He assembled a team of engineers and technical professionals under contract with the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC), Edwards Air Force Base, California to develop software to support the integration, data acquisition, and flight test of the F-22 Raptor. The goal of the development was to integrate real-time data monitoring and post-test analysis into an environment that would result in accelerating the flight test program. The software provided access to every data point with the ability to perform real-time analysis, eliminating the need to wait for post-test processing to perform analysis necessary for data point clearance decisions. The development was such a success, it is now an industry standard and sold across the industry as a commercial product.

What he runs at ClancyJG International

Donald holds an active security clearance and runs a business base spanning the Department of Defense, NASA, the FAA, and the prime contractors and suppliers that work alongside them. ClancyJG International was awarded their first prime contract supporting the FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) office in Washington, DC in 2009 providing expert UAS technical, analytical, and planning support services. ClancyJG International was required to interface with operational personnel, systems integration contractors, equipment manufacturers, airport personnel, and various FAA, U.S. Government, Military, and international organizations. Their expertise led to subsequent contract awards supporting the FAA UAS program and the FAA's aviation safety program. They currently hold a Master Ordering Agreement as a prime contractor for the Electronic FAA Accelerated and Simplified Tasks (eFAST) opportunity to provide contracted supplies and services.

During his tenure ClancyJG International has successfully provided consulting services to expand a test range's restricted airspace; obtain authorization to conduct flight testing of a unique unmanned test aircraft; limit and adjust wind turbine obstruction light pollution supporting county governments and airports; address new technology associated with air traffic controller training; and provide subject matter expertise related to commercial airport operations. Other successes include providing Air Traffic Controller support for the DoD and commercial customers; engineering services to NASA, the DoD, and commercial private industry customers; curriculum development for academia; administrative support to key leaders within the FAA; and management, operations, and technical services across the industry.

The company is geographically diverse supporting customers at locations from Alaska to Washington, DC. As a small business they participated in and graduated from the Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) Program, are a verified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), a certified Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), and a State of California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) and Small Business (SB). His background includes both prime and subcontract awards totaling more than $63M in gross revenue for ClancyJG International. ClancyJG International is an active participant in FAA programs focused on aviation safety and Air Traffic Controller training, and is proud to be integral to the success of these types of programs. As opportunities arise, ClancyJG International stands ready to provide support capitalizing on years of experience, its well-qualified staff of industry experts, and its pool of ready candidates.