MAJ Arthur Middlebrooks ’10, received the annual Department of the Army Pace Award at a Pentagon ceremony in September, presented by the Honorable Christine Wormuth, Secretary of the Army.
The Pace Award, named after former Secretary of the Army Frank Pace Jr., has been presented annually since 1962 to one Army officer, lieutenant colonel or below, and one civilian employee, GS-14 equivalent or below, assigned in a staff capacity to Headquarters, Department of the Army, for a contribution of outstanding significance to the Army that culminated during the calendar year. Awardees are selected based on their performance and completion of significant staff assignments that benefit the Army by providing substantial financial savings, or technological or military development.
The Pace Award’s military recipient for 2023 is Middlebrooks, Lead Program Analyst for Army Aviation platforms, modernization, enabling effects, and Special Access Programs within DCS G-8. He led the Army’s assessment of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Analysis of Alternatives (AoA), providing critical insights and expert-level analysis of discrete programmatic alternatives involving over $462 billion in potential investment options. These analytic efforts are central to providing a ready and relevant Army aviation modernization strategy that meets the demands of Large-Scale Combat Operations and advances next-generation firepower for a Multi-Domain Operations capable force.
Middlebrooks and his team helped identify key program cost discrepancies including those within the areas of aircraft lifecycle cost swings, per aircraft manufacturing ranges, procurement cost differences, and cost variance in flight hour estimates. Middlebrooks’ complete assessments of program costs across the 25-year procurement timeline resulted in the delivery of a fully informed FARA AoA to the Office of the Secretary of Defense-Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Study Advisory Group.
“Major Middlebrooks is without doubt the most effective analyst with whom I have had the opportunity to work with,” said Dr. Bryan Shone, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G8. “His innate ability to translate complex data into consumable materials has enabled senior leaders to quickly pinpoint Army trade space and make properly informed decisions.”
The AoA produced by Middlebrooks and his team helped define a sustainable path for the future of Army Aviation in developing innovative, capability-focused, and cost-informed approaches for the next-generation of Combat Aviation Brigade reconnaissance capabilities.
“The efforts put forth by Major Middlebrooks have delivered an analytic underpinning that has helped place Army Aviation on a more stable path for the future,” Shone said.
