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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:

Mr. Kennerly (Ken) Funk is an aerospace engineer who devoted his 45 year career to the development and acquisition of cruise missiles and air-launched tactical weapon systems. Ken worked in the Defense Department on programs with the Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The scope of programs included the Tomahawk cruise missile, High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), Maverick and Hellfire missile systems, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW), and Hard and Deeply Buried Target Defeat (HDBTD) munitions.

Ken began his career at the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California. Ken worked in the weapons division developing anti-radiation missiles, and was part of the core team that established the HARM program in the mid-1970s. After 14 years at China Lake, Ken relocated to northern Virginia where he joined the Joint Cruise Missiles Program Office in development of the Tomahawk cruise missile system. Ken became part of the surface launch team that integrated Tomahawk on Navy destroyers and the battleship New Jersey. Following his time in Tomahawk, Ken joined OSD as a senior executive in the tactical air-warfare group in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology), where he was responsible for oversight of Navy and Air Force tactical air-launched weapon systems. Ken had a hand in acquisition and fielding of the Maverick and Hellfire missile systems, and establishing the requirements for the joint service programs, JDAM and JSOW.

Ken retired from government civil service in 1997 and moved on to provide support to the Air Force Directorate of Operational Capability Requirements, where he collaborated with the Air Staff team to establish weapon requirements for HDBTD programs. These "bunker-buster" weapons have seen extensive use in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters to eliminate high-value assets buried in underground facilities, and in tunnels and caves. Ken also was part of the select team to establish the requirements and demonstrate the capability of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapon system.

Ken received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award when he retired from the government. Ken is an engineering graduate from California State University Fresno and holds Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA and System Acquisition Management from Naval Postgraduate School.