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Dr. Butch Caffall
NASA IV&V Director
Dr. Butch Caffall is the NASA IV&V Director. As the director, Dr. Caffall is responsible for the operations of the NASA IV&V Facility as well as the overall management of the NASA IV&V Program, which was established in 1993 as part of an Agency-wide strategy to provide the highest achievable levels of safety and cost-effectiveness for mission critical software.
Dr. Caffall was born in San Manuel, Arizona and attended the primary, elementary, and junior high schools in Kearny, Arizona. He graduated from Ray District High School. Following a six-year tour in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman, he completed his engineering studies and graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He earned a Master of Science in software engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in March 2003 and a Doctorate in software engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in March of 2005.
Dr. Caffall entered civil service as an intern at the United States Army's Electronic Proving Ground (USAEPG) in September 1986. During his three years at USAEPG, he worked as a test officer for developmental testing of various command and control systems.
In December of 1989, Dr. Caffall accepted a position at the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC). From December 1989 to October 1991, he worked as a test officer in the Operational Test and Evaluation Department. He worked as the Joint Interoperability Evaluation System (JIES) system integrator from October 1991 to April 1993 in the Automated Test Systems Division. From April 1993 until April 1994, he served as the Division Chief for Policy in the Plans and Programs Department. He served as the Department Head of Plans and Programs from April 1994 to June 1995. From June 1995 until January 1999, he served as the JITC Deputy Commander and Technical Director.
In January 1999, Dr. Caffall was promoted into a senior scientific and technical position as the Technical Director at the Joint National Test Facility (JNTF) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and served in that position until being promoted into the Technical Director position for Test and Assessment in February 2000.
From December 2002 until September 2006, Dr. Caffall served as the Technical Director and Chief Architect for the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) that is being acquired by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). He was responsible for the capability definition and design for the C2BMC element, as well as providing system architecture, software engineering, system engineering, and communication engineering expertise to the C2BMC acquisition. He designed the Global Integrated Fire Control (GIFC) and led the development of the future battle-management capability that will provide BMDS-level tracking and weapon/target pairing.
Dr. Caffall is married to the former Trudy Joann Parent of St. Mary’s, Ohio. Dr. and Ms. Caffall have one daughter (Kimberley Nicole Wentland) who is married and resides in Phoenix, Arizona. They have two granddaughters and one grandson: Kailie Elizabeth, Alayna Baiti, and Aiden Hays.
NASA IV&V Director
Dr. Butch Caffall
Dr. Butch Caffall is the NASA IV&V Director. As the director, Dr. Caffall is responsible for the operations of the NASA IV&V Facility as well as the overall management of the NASA IV&V Program, which was established in 1993 as part of an Agency-wide strategy to provide the highest achievable levels of safety and cost-effectiveness for mission critical software.
Dr. Caffall was born in San Manuel, Arizona and attended the primary, elementary, and junior high schools in Kearny, Arizona. He graduated from Ray District High School. Following a six-year tour in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman, he completed his engineering studies and graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He earned a Master of Science in software engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in March 2003 and a Doctorate in software engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in March of 2005.
Dr. Caffall entered civil service as an intern at the United States Army's Electronic Proving Ground (USAEPG) in September 1986. During his three years at USAEPG, he worked as a test officer for developmental testing of various command and control systems.
In December of 1989, Dr. Caffall accepted a position at the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC). From December 1989 to October 1991, he worked as a test officer in the Operational Test and Evaluation Department. He worked as the Joint Interoperability Evaluation System (JIES) system integrator from October 1991 to April 1993 in the Automated Test Systems Division. From April 1993 until April 1994, he served as the Division Chief for Policy in the Plans and Programs Department. He served as the Department Head of Plans and Programs from April 1994 to June 1995. From June 1995 until January 1999, he served as the JITC Deputy Commander and Technical Director.
In January 1999, Dr. Caffall was promoted into a senior scientific and technical position as the Technical Director at the Joint National Test Facility (JNTF) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and served in that position until being promoted into the Technical Director position for Test and Assessment in February 2000.
From December 2002 until September 2006, Dr. Caffall served as the Technical Director and Chief Architect for the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) that is being acquired by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). He was responsible for the capability definition and design for the C2BMC element, as well as providing system architecture, software engineering, system engineering, and communication engineering expertise to the C2BMC acquisition. He designed the Global Integrated Fire Control (GIFC) and led the development of the future battle-management capability that will provide BMDS-level tracking and weapon/target pairing.
Dr. Caffall is married to the former Trudy Joann Parent of St. Mary’s, Ohio. Dr. and Ms. Caffall have one daughter (Kimberley Nicole Wentland) who is married and resides in Phoenix, Arizona. They have two granddaughters and one grandson: Kailie Elizabeth, Alayna Baiti, and Aiden Hays.