Bio
Maj Castle is Assistant Professor at US Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado. Maj Castle is responsible for teaching undergraduate physics to cadets at USAFA. Maj Castle also serves as the Advisor-in-Charge of the Nuclear Weapons and Strategy Minor and is responsible for overseeing the curriculum and outreach used to develop nuclear expertise amongst cadets at USAFA.
Maj Castle commissioned into the Air Force in June 2005 from USAFA. He completed acquisition training in February 2007. As an Air Force physicist, Maj Castle has had assignments at the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation Agency (AFNWCA) and later Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC), Kirtland AFB, NM, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Air Force Technical Application Center (AFTAC), Patrick SFB, Florida. In these assignments, Maj Castle has experience managing programs related to chemical weapons defeat modeling code, nuclear stockpile management, nuclear survivability associated with electromagnetic pulses and degraded satellite communications due to scintillation, and developing strategic roadmaps for research and development. Maj Castle earned a masters degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in electro-optical properties of materials with his thesis titled “Memristive Properties of Cuprous Oxide” and doctor of philosophy from Oxford University with his dissertation titled “Improved Neutron Detection Using Zinc Sulfide with Boron.” Prior to his current position, Maj Castle was Deputy Division Chief at AFTAC, Patrick SFB, Florida.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Physics, USAFA, USAFA, Colorado (2005)
Air and Space Basic Course, Maxwell AFB, Alabama (2006)
Masters of Science, Materials Science and Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (2011)
Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama (2011)
Air Command and Staff College, Correspondence (2019)
Doctor of Philosophy, Particle Physics and Materials Science, Merton College, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom (2020)
Professional Experience
August 2005 – March 2006, Student Pilot, 557 Flying Training Squadron, USAFA, Colorado
March 2006 – August 2006, Student Pilot, 47 Operations Support Squadron, Laughlin AFB, Texas
August 2006 – July 2008, Executive Officer, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Agency, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
July 2008 – February 2009, Nuclear Effects Team Lead, 709 Nuclear Systems Squadron, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
February 2009 – August 2009, Executive Officer, 498 Nuclear Systems Squadron, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico
August 2009 – April 2011, AFIT Masters Student, AFIT, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
April 2011 – June 2013, Program Manager, Nuclear Survivability, DTRA, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
June 2013 – August 2015, Instructor of Physics, Dean of Faculty, USAFA, Colorado
August 2015 – September 2018, AFIT PhD Student, AFIT, Oxford, United Kingdom
September 2018 – August 2020, Deputy, Research Integration Division, AFTAC, Patrick SFB, Florida
August 2020 – June 2021, Deputy, Mission Integration Division, AFTAC, Patrick SFB, Florida
June 2021 – Present, Director Nuclear Engineering Research Center and Assistant Professor of Physics, Dean of Faculty, USAFA, Colorado
Honors & Awards
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf cluster
Research and Scholarly Interests
Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, Particle Detection, Science of Complexity