Photo By Robert Grabendike | Clint Stammer (holding medal), F-35 Joint Program Office Electronic Attack &...... read more read more
Clint Stammer helps warfighters come home alive. They may never know his name, but their survival depends on his quiet dedication. He is an unsung American hero in the Department of Defense.
And he received recognition over a plate of fish tacos.
In late March, between back-to-back meetings at the F-35 Joint Program Office in Crystal City, Virginia, his boss, Colton Dixon, the JPO mission effectiveness lead, pulled Stammer away for a quick lunch.
As they sat down, a colleague approached the table.
"Can I congratulate him?"
"Wait," Dixon said. "Not yet. I haven't told him."
Then Dixon turned to Stammer and broke the news: He had earned the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award, the highest honor for a career DoD civilian.
"I felt humbled. I was speechless, which never happens," Stammer recalled. "It means a lot that people notice the hard work and sacrifices."
On April 1, Stammer accepted the medal in front of family, colleagues and senior leaders at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in Point Mugu, California.
"Only 10% of nominees receive this medal," Dixon noted. "He may not wear the uniform, but everything he does has the same lasting impact."
Stammer addressed his teammates, Scott, Brad, Michael and the many others filling the room.
"I know it's an individual award," he said, "but this feels like a lifetime team award. I hope everyone realizes they're a part of it."
The Exceptional Civilian Service medal captured the moment. But the mission started long before.
For almost 22 years, Stammer has worked behind the scenes on the F-35. He designs systems that boost the aircraft's survivability, deliver better capabilities and help bring aircrews home. But that mission comes at a personal cost: time away from his own crew.
Yet before it became his mission, the call to serve was loud and clear on a Tuesday morning: Sept. 11, 2001.
Stammer was a junior at the University of Colorado Boulder. Like the rest of the country, he watched in disbelief. Smoke. Fire. Towers falling.
His father, a Vietnam veteran and retired farmer, taught Stammer commitment, craftsmanship and a duty to serve. Those values carried him through college, and after 9/11, the surge of patriotism returned. He felt the need to serve.
But when he graduated in 2003, the path wasn’t clear.
The tech industry was still reeling from the dot-com bubble. Jobs were scarce, but defense was hiring. He found a path. Maybe not the one he planned, but one with purpose.
"I was 25 and didn't really want to enlist at that point," he said. "I decided I'd join the government, give my service and then go find a job."
He joined NAWCWD in August 2003, planning to serve three years.
Three years became five, then 10. Eventually, he decided, "I'll leave when it's no longer fun." He's still waiting.
Point Mugu, he says, might be the Navy’s best-kept secret. The work is his lifelong passion. But what sets him apart is his work ethic, rooted in the rich soil of his family’s farm just outside Manning, Iowa, population about 1,500.
Growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, you got up before the sun and didn’t quit until the job was done. Everybody pitched in. No excuses. Just results.
He carried that Iowa farm mindset straight into his role at Point Mugu. One year after joining NAWCWD, in 2004, he became a flight test engineer on the F-35 program.
In 2019, he became the F-35 JPO lead for electronic attack and countermeasures. He inherited a jet burdened with inflexible, hard-coded defenses that cost millions to update.
"I helped the Lockheed Martin team make it programmable," Stammer said. "So we could quickly adjust programs and maximize effectiveness."
This programmability allowed countermeasures to be updated independently from the jet’s core software, making updates and tests faster and simpler. The redesign led to a formal DoD program and was one of the first upgrades delivered under the Block 4 modernization effort.
The impact was immediate. His redesign shaved 45 weeks off complex schedules and saved at least $10 million for each countermeasure type integrated.
Stammer also led efforts to replace the F-35's specialized flare with a more common and cost-effective alternative. The change could save $2 billion to $6 billion over the life of the program, double the number of available countermeasures and enhance survivability through greater operational efficiency.
"I applied what I've learned from 20 years with other aircraft and leaned on the experts I talk to daily," Stammer said. "It wasn't a revolution, but it worked."
Beyond cost savings, Stammer tackled another critical mission: defending against advanced radar threats.
A countermeasures virtuoso with a visionary mindset, he saw the need for global collaboration. So he created the Jamming and Countermeasures Center initiative, known as the JCC.
Even before the JCC doors officially opened, he leveraged international teamwork to integrate BriteCloud 218 into the F-35. Developed in the U.K. and officially designated AN/ALQ-260(V)1 in the United States, research to integrate BriteCloud into the F-35 began at the JCC in 2022.
"Working on BriteCloud has been 90% of my work over the last couple of years," Stammer explained.
About the size of a soda can, BriteCloud electronically mimics aircraft radar signatures, diverting enemy missiles. Once launched, it transforms into a phantom jet, buying aircrews precious seconds to evade danger.
Stammer drove the rapid effort to identify, test and field the system. His team took it from initial requirement to the fleet in less than two years. Completed in September 2023, the system now protects U.S. and allied aircrews worldwide.
BriteCloud wasn't the JCC's only success. When another critical threat emerged, he put the JCC into action. He brought together the brightest minds from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia inside a Point Mugu lab — and locked the door with one clear mission.
"Let's create a solution for this one threat," Stammer told them.
This small band of experts cracked it in three days in a world where solutions can take years.
They did not need more money, meetings or time. Just a lab, a mission and the right team. Like the Wright brothers, they solved a complex problem while Samuel Langley's team remained stuck planning.
"What we did in those three days is greater than most teams can do," Stammer said. "Because it was 100% collaboration."
Today, that teamwork continues within the fully operational JCC. It’s the primary development space for BriteCloud and other survivability systems.
"We are cranking out countermeasure products at an extremely fast pace," Stammer emphasized. "We're producing real solutions that directly impact tactics and save warfighter lives."
What started as a tri-service initiative grew into a partnership among the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
"He's assembled a team of juggernauts," Dixon said. "And we're looking to add more countries."
The JCC shapes tactics and delivers systems at speed to the fleet. But it's more than a building.
"It's a concept. It's collaboration, working with the world's experts, our partners," Stammer said. "It's the way forward. It's how we're going to win."
But delivering life-saving countermeasures comes with a personal cost: time away from home.
At the ceremony, Stammer wore a black suit, burgundy tie and flag pin. His wife, Tanya, and their three sons stood beside him. Matching suits. Matching ties. The youngest in a bow tie.
"I know I'm on the road a lot," Stammer said. "But thank you. I hope you see it makes a difference."
That is the team Stammer does it for. He cannot always be there, so he makes every moment count.
Dixon spoke and looked at Tanya and the boys. "You should be proud. Your husband and dad is a hero. We take him away often. Thank you for sharing him."
One of Stammer's greatest honors is briefing weapons schools, stepping into rooms full of flight suits, explaining threats, sharpening tactics and giving pilots a fighting chance to get home.
His mother, a retired teacher, taught him the value of clear communication and giving back through teaching others.
"You can be the smartest person with the best information," Stammer said. "But it's useless if you can't relay it."
When warfighters thank him, Stammer always redirects the praise.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you," he says. "You're my heroes."
These conversations remind him why he still serves.
"That’s part of what fuels the drive," Stammer emphasized. "What I’m doing matters and they express that to me."
Today, Stammer still serves with clear purpose. Every safe return of an F-35 is thanks to people like him.
"Because at the end of the day, whatever we do, it's for the warfighter," Stammer said. "It all comes down to bringing the aircrew home to their families."
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2025 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 494614 |
| Location: | POINT MUGU, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | MANNING, IOWA, US |
| Web Views: | 798 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Aviation
United States Navy
Department of the Navy
