United States Air Force Academy

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Lieutenant Colonel David Meier

Senior Military Faculty, Associate Professor of Physics

Department of Physics

David Meier
Contact Information

(719) 333-3276

Email

Bio

Lt Col David Meier was commissioned into the Air Force upon graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1996. He then completed Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. During his next two assignments, Lt Col Meier operated the C-130H for Air Mobility Command and Pacific Air Forces throughout Europe, Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, South America, and Australia. While stationed in Alaska, he was one of a very small number of pilots qualified to operate in and out of the state’s Long-Range Remote Radar Sites. Following these operational assignments, Lt Col Meier brought this worldwide experience to the C-130 Schoolhouse, serving for four years as an instructor and evaluator pilot. While at the Schoolhouse, he served as the C-130E Chief Pilot for the Operations Group and the lead Functional Check Flight pilot for the base.

Lt Col Meier left the C-130 to pursue a master’s degree in physics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2008, with a follow-on assignment at the U.S. Air Force Academy as a physics instructor and glider instructor pilot. He completed the DARPA Service Chiefs’ Fellowship in Arlington, VA, researching small unmanned aerial system capabilities and potential countermeasures. After a second AFIT assignment, earning a Ph.D. in physics, he returned to the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2015. During this current assignment, he deployed for one year serving as the Chief of Safety for Al Dhafra Air Base, U.A.E. He returned from this deployment in 2018 to direct the Physics 110 course and continue flying as a T-53 instructor pilot.

Professional Experience

Doctor of Philosophy, Applied Physics, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson, Greene County, Ohio (2015)

Master of Science, Applied Physics, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson, Greene County, Ohio (2010)

Bachelor of Science, Physics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. (1996)

Honors & Awards

USAFA Outstanding Academy Educator (2020)

Lt Edwin E. Aldrin, Sr. Award, Air Force Institute of Technology (2010)

Air Force Aviation “Well-Done” Award (2006)

517th Airlift Squadron Pilot of the Year (2002)

Meritorious Service Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters

Aerial Achievement Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster

Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster

Research and Scholarly Interests

Physical Education Research

Atmospheric Effects on Laser Propagation

Meteorological Satellite Remote Sensing

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

O'Keefe, D.S., W.J. González-Espada, and D.C. Meier, (2023) Beyond STEM attrition: Quantifying the flow of U.S. Air Force Academy cadets between academic majors to improve STEM persistence. Journal of Military Learning, 7(2), 3-25.

O‘Keefe, D.S., D.C. Meier, J. Valentine-Rodríguez, L.T. Belcher, W.J. González-Espada, (2022). “A Mixed Methods Analysis of STEM Major Attrition at the U.S. Air Force Academy,” The Journal of Military Learning, 6(1). 15-38.

Dwyer, J.H., W.J. Gonzalez-Espada, K. de La Harpe, and D.C. Meier, (2020). “Factors Associated with Students Graduating with STEM Degrees at a Military Academy: Improving Success by Identifying Early Obstacles,” Journal of College Science Teaching, 50(1), 28-35.

Meier, D.C. and S.T. Fiorino, (2016). “Application of Satellite and NWP Derived Wind Profiles to Military Airdrop Operations” Journal of Applied. Meteorology and Climatology. 55, No. 10, pp. 2197–2209.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Fiorino, S.T. and D.C. Meier, (2016). “Improving the Fidelity of the Tatarskii Cn2 Calculation with Inclusion of Pressure Perturbations,” in Propagation Through and Characterization of Atmospheric and Oceanic Phenomena, OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optica Publishing Group), paper M1A.1.

Meier, D.C. and S.T. Fiorino, (2015). “Comparison of Index of Refraction Structure Function (Cn2) Profiles Derived from Polar-orbiting Satellite Data and Numerical Weather Prediction Models,” in Imaging and Applied Optics, OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optica Publishing Group), paper PM1C.3.

Meier, D.C. and S.T. Fiorino, (2014). “Correlated Satellite-derived Turbulence, Clouds & Aerosol Data,” in Imaging and Applied Optics, OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optica Publishing Group), paper PM1E.4.

Dissertation & Thesis

Meier, D.C. (2015) “Operational Exploitation of Satellite-Based Sounding Data and Numerical Weather Prediction Models for Directed Energy Applications” Doctoral Dissertation, Air Force Institute of Technology. AFIT/ENP/DS/15D-009.

Meier, D.C. (2010) “Application of Satellite-Derived Wind Profiles to Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) Operations” Masters Thesis, Air Force Institute of Technology. AFIT/GAP/ENP/10-M10.