Mr. Thomas A. Perdue was project leader to organize, staff, and manage a multibillion dollar research project to develop a rapidly deployable low altitude ballistic missile defense system to defend the U.S.’s land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles from enemy attack.
His leadership and judgment are credited with being instrumental in gaining necessary Department of Defense support for the Low Altitude Defense (LoAD) project to initiate the first phase of a preprototype demonstration. LoAD represents a major thrust of the BMD Organization and is being conducted by the Systems Technology Project Office.
Perdue has been employed by BMDSCOM and its predecessor, the SAFEGUARD Systems Command, since 1962. Before being named manager of the LoAD Project, he served as Chief, Systems Technology Systems Definition Office. From 1967 to 1977, he headed the Range Safety Office for the Command’s Kwajalein Missile Range Directorate. As Chief of Range Safety, he was responsible for safety during missile launches at Wake and Johnson Island as well as Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific.
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