Eglin’s Climatic Lab gets first female site director

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Melissa Tate, the lead engineer and deputy of the Propulsion Test Branch, Test Division, Arnold Engineering Development Complex, will take on a new role as McKinley Climatic Laboratory (MCL) site director at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, beginning next month.

She will be the first female director in the MCL’s 75-year DOD history.

As site director of the MCL, Tate will oversee climatic testing of various military and commercial systems within the facility.

Five test chambers are used to prove the operational reliability of systems under test in the climatic extremes found around the world.

The five test chambers are the Main Chamber, which is the largest chamber at approximately 252 feet wide, 260 feet deep, and 70 feet high; the Equipment Test Chamber, a smaller version of the Main Chamber; the sun, wind, rain, and dust Chamber; the salt fog chamber; and the altitude chamber.

Tate said she is excited “to help McKinley in supporting the National Defense Strategy, as well as testing for commercial entities and the joint services.”

Tate said that the experience gained in the deputy position will help her succeed in the new role.

“Everything I have done in this job, and my previous jobs, will apply to the director role in one way or another,” she said.

“It combines aspects of all the different jobs.”

She said what she is looking forward to most at MCL are “all the new challenges and working with the team and their mission.”

“Plus, we get to make snow, which is something we don’t do here (at Arnold),” Tate said.