On Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) — the management and operating contractor for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) — named Garrett Harencak as the next President of MSTS, effective Nov. 1, 2022.
Harencak joins MSTS after nearly four years as Vice President of Strategic Defense Programs for Jacobs Engineering. While at Jacobs, he also served as Deputy Program Manager of the Missile Defense Agency Integrated Research and Development for Enterprise Solutions contract, providing overall strategic vision, leadership, direction, and management for all employees, missions, projects and activities related to the contract. Harencak’s organization, through his leadership, developed and communicated the vision for safe, secure, environmentally and fiscally sound contract execution with full authority and accountability to manage and integrate all contractual, financial and technical performance designed to ensure quality, cost control, timeliness of performance, effective business relations and customer satisfaction.
“Garrett’s vast experience in nuclear safety, high-hazard projects, explosives test and evaluation, conduct of operations, and nuclear emergency response, contributed to his outstanding performance within the Nuclear Security Enterprise, from policy through deployment and sustainment, making him an excellent fit for his new role with MSTS and the NNSS,” said David C. Johnson, MSTS Board of Managers Chairman. “He is a trusted and tested leader with decades of accomplishment overseeing and directing critical national security science, research, and development.”
Before joining Jacobs, Harencak served in the United States Air Force for more than 39 years and rose to the rank of Major General. Positions he has held include Commander of USAF Recruiting Command; Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration; Commander at the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base; Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Military Application (NA-10), National Nuclear Security Administration; and Commander of the 509th Bomber Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base.
Harencak holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a master’s degree in management from Abilene Christian University, and a master’s degree in national security studies from the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base. He is Adjunct Professor of Nuclear Deterrence and Assurance for the Air Force Nuclear College at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a member of the Board of Regents, Strategic Deterrent Coalition, Washington, D.C.
Harencak replaces retiring MSTS President Mark W. Martinez. Martinez led the NNSS for the last five years, providing innovative leadership and maintaining continuity of operations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Martinez led MSTS to the fulfillment of its five-year base-period commitments, and the awarding of a five-year contract extension, by focusing on building trust with the national laboratories; reducing the cost of direct work at the Site; increasing experimental work; improving safety performance; reducing operational upsets; and building support among community, state, and congressional leaders for the Site’s ongoing missions.