Captain Anita N. Dunsmore is an Instructor in the Physics Department at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. Capt Dunsmore entered the Air Force in 2016 after commissioning from the U.S. Air Force Academy. She received her Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2018.

While at the AF Academy, she worked on several research projects in the physics department, ending with a project analyzing satellite glints using broadband photometry techniques. At the AF Institute of Technology, her thesis involved an astrophysical model designed to characterize the dust clouds surrounding supernova explosions, which she applied to the dust clouds created by nuclear explosions to attempt to discern characteristics of the nuclear weapon.

Subsequently, Capt Dunsmore served as a nuclear physicist for the Nuclear Effects and Analysis Branch at the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Most recently, she was the Executive Officer for the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s Commander.

Master of Science, Nuclear Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio (2018)

Bachelor of Science, Physics and Mathematics, Air Force Academy, Colorado (2016)

Instructor of Physics, Department of Physics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. (2021-Present)

Executive Officer, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. (2020-2021)

Nuclear Physicist, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. (2018-2020)

Graduate Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio (2016-2018)

Student, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado (2012-2016)

Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster

Air Force Achievement Medal

AFMC Nuclear Deterrence Operations Team of the Year, AFNWC Nuclear Technology and Integration Directorate, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico (2019)

Observational Astronomy

Physics of the Early Universe

Particle Physics

Nuclear Physics