Rear Admiral Dave Venlet is Program Executive Officer, Tactical Air Programs.
He previously commanded Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division with responsibility
for Navy weapons and systems RDT&E and fleet support capabilities at China
Lake and Point Mugu, Calif. He served as NAVAIR Assistant Commander for Test and
Evaluation and for Shore Installation Management.
Rear Admiral Dave Venlet is from Pottstown, Pa., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1976. Fleet tours include VF-41 as a Tomcat RIO deployed with USS Nimitz where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action in the Gulf of Sidra. After redesignation as a Naval Aviator he served with VF-143 as an F-14 pilot deployed with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and in Fleet Replacement Squadron VF-101 NAS Oceana as a Tomcat instructor pilot and adversary pilot.
Designated an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer in 1988, he is a graduate of U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and holds a Master's of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School. Rear Adm. Venlet served as a test pilot at Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River. In 1991 he performed the first carrier landing of the T-45 on USS John F Kennedy. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
Tours in Naval Air Systems Command include the F/A-18 program in various capacities including Class Desk Officer and Deputy Program Manager. He was Executive Assistant to the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, and served as PMA-259, Program Manager for Air-to-Air Missiles involving AIM-9X development.
Updated: 27 September 2004
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