Roni Modica

B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1989

Ms. Roni Modica is a Defense Intelligence Senior Level Executive serving as a Technical Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD(I)). From 2017-2018, Ms. Modica was detailed to serve as the Director, Special Program for Missile Defeat (SPMD). The SPMD was a Deputy Secretary of Defense project that was part of the Department's Defense Innovation Initiative and Advanced Capability Deterrence Panel effort associated with countering road mobile missiles.

In 2017, Ms. Modica was selected by the Deputy Secretary of Defense to lead a small, high performing team to develop innovative solutions to address one of the nation’s top national security challenges. Ms. Modica established a test infrastructure and process for demonstrating innovative capabilities integrated with current operational systems working across all Services,the Combatant Commands, and the Intelligence Community. In less than 18 months, Ms. Modica's team developed and demonstrated new capabilities to deliver persistent intelligence in an operational environment to address mobile missiles and other time critical targeting needs. For her accomplishments, Ms. Modica received the Department of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the Secretary of Defense in 2017 and the 2018 Presidential Rank Award.

Ms. Modica joined OUSD (I) in September 2014. OUSD(I) is the Department of Defense (DoD) organization responsible for providing oversight and policy guidance for all DoD intelligence activities. Ms. Modica is a Special Technical Advisor for space and missile defense activities supporting the Director for Defense Intelligence for Strategy, Programs and Resources. She is also a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps.

Prior to her current position in DoD, from 2012-2014, Ms. Modica was a Technical Intelligence Officer in the Office of Global Access in the Directorate for Science and Technology (DS&T) at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She was the program manager for one of the CIA DS&T’s largest development efforts.

From 2002-2012, Ms. Modica held several positions at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). She served as the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) Space Architect reporting to the Director of Engineering and was responsible for concept development, prototyping, testing and acquisition for the BMDS space layer. Ms. Modica also served as the MDA liaison to the Intelligence Community (IC) responsible for establishing partnerships with NRO, NGA, DIA, NSA, CIA and ODNI to identify, demonstrate, and integrate IC capabilities that could support the missile defense mission. She was the program manager for multiple classified advanced technology programs that evolved from her IC liaison role. Ms. Modica delivered one of MDA's most successful advanced technology demonstration programs. Ms. Modica also served as the Director for Systems Engineering and Integration for Special Programs and as the Chief Engineer for the Kinetic Energy Boost Phase Interceptor program.

From 1987-2002, Ms. Modica was a systems engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, NAVSEA Dahlgren Division. She led multiple engineering efforts in support of the development and certification of various Navy systems, including TRIDENT II, TOMAHAWK, AEGIS, Standard Missile, and the Navy Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Program. In 1999, Ms. Modica received the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award for her leadership and technical contributions to the Navy Theater Ballistic Missile Defense System. Ms. Modica started her career with the Navy as a participant in the Federal Government’s Cooperative Education Program in 1987 as a college sophomore engineering student.

In 1989, Ms. Modica received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.