Alex Hoover is an engineer reporting on a Joint Duty Assignment as the Science and Technology Department Head for NIMO from the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. His thirty-year military and civil service career began in 1991 as a Surface Warfare Officer in the USN where he served in the CRUDES and Combat Logistic Fleets in 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleets. On shore, he served a Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force as an Operational Test Coordinator and Director of Modeling and Simulation working technical and policy issues for new acquisition programs at the PEO, CNO, Joint Staff, and OSD levels.

After a year as a contractor supporting USN, USA, OSD, and the Joint Staff, Alex took a job as a civil servant at Combat Direction Systems Activity Dam Neck working on advanced sensor, communications, training, and modeling and simulation project like digital engineering and digital twins for fleet and shore capabilities. He moved to the Department of Homeland Security to become the Test Area Director for Physical and Cyber Security Systems and was soon promoted to become the Associate Director for Physical and Cyber Security Engineering.

With 40+ years of computer hardware and software experience, Alex holds a BS and MS in Computer Information Science and numerous DOD, DHS, civilian, and academic technical certifications. He supports and participates in various professional societies such as the Military Operations Research Society, the International Consortium of Systems Engineers, and the International Test and Evaluation Association advocating both professional development opportunities and training opportunities to inform non-technical operators on the technical and IT underpinnings of the modern world.

Alex lives in Suitland, MD with his wife of 30+ years, Synnove. His son, Halden, and Army Combat Medic and daughter-in-law Kyshawn are currently deployed to South Korea. His daughter is a junior technical analyst at the CIA in the NCR region. In his spare time, he builds robots, writes software, plays tabletop wargames, and support local sports.