Robert J. Vercher

Rob Vercher is the mission area executive for Strategic Deterrence at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). He is responsible for over 600 staff and approximately $240 million in annual funding for strategic planning, acquisition, execution, and performance of strategic deterrence-related programs, including Trident, Sentinel, Conventional Strike Program, Sea Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear, and Advanced Reentry and Prototyping. Mr. Vercher joined the Laboratory in 2016 after serving 24 years in the U.S. Air Force as an intercontinental ballistic missile and space operator. His operational commands were the 91st Missile Wing Commander, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota; the 90th Operations Group Commander, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming; and the 12th Missile Squadron Commander, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. Mr. Vercher recently served as the Air Force Strategic Systems program area manager within APL’s Force Projection Sector. He has a B.S. in business administration–accounting from Auburn University, an M.A. in computer resource and information management from Webster University, an M.A. in administrative sciences–organization management from The George Washington University, a master’s of military operational art and science from Air University, and a master’s of national security studies from the National War College.