PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - Capt. Jaime W. Engdahl took the helm of the Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration Program, UCAS-D (PMA-268), following a change of command ceremony held today.

Engdahl, the deputy program manager for the E-6B Mercury Block I/IA program, succeeded Capt. Jeffrey R. Penfield, who was recently selected for promotion to rear admiral. Penfield’s follow on assignment is on the staff of the Naval Air Systems Command.

A California native, Engdahl graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. He completed flight training in Pensacola, Fla., and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in 1984.

His operational assignments include Electronic Attack Squadrons 129 and 130. While deployed on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), he took part in Operations Deny Flight, Vigilant Warrior and Deliberate Force, where he flew more than 80 combat sorties and logged 250 flight hours over Iraq and Bosnia. He also served as the Assistant Air Operations Officer on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) while deployed in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

In addition to his many shore tour assignments in Air Test and Evaluation, Engdahl served as an acquisition professional in PMA-265 and in the E-6B program.

He earned a master of science degree from the Naval Post Graduate School, and was designated a Naval Flight Test Officer after graduating from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Md.