Dr. Michael Holtcamp began his career at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Winston-Salem, NC, in 1960. In 1962, he joined NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in the early days of the Saturn rocket development.
In Dr. Holtcamp joined the Range Operations Division of the NIKE-X Test and Field Operations Directorate (later Kwajalein Missile Range Directorate), planning for ICBM tests of the NIKE X system at Kwajalein.
In 1968, Dr. Holtcamp was the lead author of an Army plan to assume management responsibilities for the Army Research Projects Agency (ARPA) reentry measurement programs at Kwajalein, known as the Kiernan Reentry Measurement Site (KREMS). The plan was approved and Dr. Holtcamp was appointed Chief of the Reentry Measurements Branch with management responsibilities for the former NIKE-ZEUS radars as well as the KREMS complex. During his tenure, the ALTAIR and ALCOR radars were developed and became operational.
In 1989, Dr. Holtcamp was the principal author of the Joint Tactical Missile Defense (JTMD) Master Plan which was approved. Dr. Holtcamp was appointed Deputy Project Manager for the new JTMD Project Office of the Program Executive Office for Air Defense.
In 1991, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization assigned to the Army management responsibility for ARROW, on of the first international Strategic Missile Defense Programs, with the State of Israel. Dr. Holtcamp was selected as the first chartered Arrow Project Manager, serving to 1995 and completing successful demonstration/validation of the missile.
In 1995, Dr. Holtcamp was appointed Chief Engineer of the PEO for Missile Defense, in which job he served until his retirement from the US Government in 1997.
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