I've had the privilege of working with and learning from both Randy Roush and Jerry Branson. I don't have an engineering degree; most of what I knew prior to meeting Dr. Roush in 2015 was learned through years of conducting operations as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy. Although I had received a variety of training in the sense that I was taught how to accomplish specific tasks, I didn’t really understand why things worked (or often didn’t). My command originally hired Dr. Roush to complete engineering-level projects that I and others on my team had failed to accomplish due to our lack of expertise. After he realized the potential of our team, he quickly recognized the value of teaching and mentoring to make us more capable rather than simply doing our work for us. Together we established a technical engineering training program incorporating the elements of electronic design, audio and video processing techniques, embedded computing, RF theory and antenna fabrication.

Over the course of the past nine years Dr. Roush and his small cadre have taught dozens of members from the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Through his mentorship and ability to inspire confidence has directly enabled hundreds of sensitive technical operations. The impact of Dr. Roush's influence on the United States special operations community cannot be overstated.

My education continued when, based upon Dr. Roush’s recommendation, I was invited to join a diverse team of junior engineers in Dr. Branson's CORE program. During the program we were introduced to a broad range of system design, testing and fabrication skills by a highly experienced staff of instructors led (and previously trained) by Dr. Branson. The depth, variety and attention to detail were unparalleled in any coursework I had previously received in college or the Navy. At the end of the pipeline, we were tested during a series of realistic capstone exercises requiring the blending of cross-disciplinary teams to satisfy customer requirements. Dr. Branson repeatedly emphasized the importance of building prototypes quickly to test, troubleshoot, and refine to produce quality deliverables as quickly as possible. I personally learned the most when systems didn’t function as expected, because mentors assigned to my team (including Dr. Branson) were able to provide expert troubleshooting guidance. Team makeups were shuffled between each project so members would be required to work with different personalities, and at some point, each student would have an opportunity to lead a team.

Dr. Branson held high expectations while instilling confidence in his students' abilities. I can confidently say there is no similar period in my life that I've learned as much in such a condensed period, and this was undoubtedly a result of Dr. Branson's mentorship.

My experiences with Randy Roush and Jerry Branson have been nothing short of life changing. I consider knowledge a gift to be imparted. Their capacity and willingness to share knowledge in a way that enables others to succeed sets them both apart from anyone I’ve encountered in my career. My only regret is that I didn’t meet them both earlier, and I’d wholeheartedly endorse any operational engineering program they’d run.

Kyle A., Naval Special Warfare Technical Surveillance Operator 04/10/2024