Dr. McClernon is a retired Air Force Colonel with 25 years of experience as a Behavioral Scientist, Developmental Engineer, and Science & Technology leader. He began his military career conducting aircraft testing at the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center before serving as Assistant Professor and Executive Officer in USAFA’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership (DFBL). Dr. McClernon was assigned to the Air Force Research Laboratory for four years where he served as Deputy Branch Chief, Technical Advisor, and Executive Officer to the Laboratory’s Commander. He returned to DFBL as Research Director and Associate Professor prior to serving as an International Program Officer at the European Office of Aerospace Research & Development in London UK. Dr. McClernon then returned to USAFA a third time where he served as the Director of the Commander’s Action Group for the USAFA Superintendent. He finished his military career as the Academy’s Associate Dean of Research where he oversaw $40M of annual research and led a division of more than 100 personnel that supports cadet research, innovation, and other non-teaching Dean of Faculty programs. He served two deployed assignments supporting detainee operations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Afghanistan.

Dr. McClernon graduated from USAFA in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Sciences. He received a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University, and earned his PhD in Modeling and Simulation from the Naval Postgraduate School.  Dr. McClernon served as an adjunct faculty member at the Air Force Test Pilot School from 2013 to 2016. He is a commercial pilot with over 1,600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.