DiSTI Welcomes New Program Manager Rick Wrenn

June 7, 2011 - PRLog -- The DiSTI Corporation, a software development and simulation training company, welcomes Rick Wrenn to the team as the newest Program Manager. Rick brings over 20 years of management experience in the design, development, testing and implementation of real-time military training systems. His credentials include contributions to major projects including the U.S. Navy Landing Craft Air Cushioned (LCAC) virtual environment and F‐14 flight simulator, the LAV‐25 project for the Marines, and live fire range projects in Germany. Along with his four year representation on the I/ITSEC committee, Rick’s combination of program management, software engineering, and end‐user experience accentuates DiSTI’s management team with versatility, industry insight and essential project experience.

Growing up, Rick Wrenn felt a calling to serve his country in one of the greatest ways possible – in the U.S. Armed Forces. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at the Virginia Military Institute, Rick served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Bombardier Navigator for the A-6 aircraft. Rick attended the Naval Postgraduate School to obtain a Master of Science degree with a concentration in Computer Science, which aided his software engineering work for several years. With this extensive engineering experience, Rick decided to take on a program management role in order to further contribute to the simulation and training industry.

While still serving in the Marine Corps, Rick enjoyed working as project manager at Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division. When he retired from service, he became a program manager at UNITECH, which was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2009. At UNITECH, Rick led the Landing Craft Air Cushioned Vehicle (LCAC) project, which called for the development of highly advanced supplemental training aids including a high fidelity virtual environment. DiSTI’s professional services organization was selected for their expertise in developing photo realistic visual displays, to accurately depict the life-like
environment of the LCAC. It was during this project that Rick first experienced working alongside DiSTI as their customer.

“I believe the end-user of simulated training systems is the real customer and beneficiary of what this industry has to offer. When I began my work with DiSTI I felt that their customer service orientation is aligned with the ideal vision for meeting and exceeding the customer’s every need,” said Rick Wrenn, Program Manager at DISTI.

“Rick’s contributions to the simulation and training industry are highly regarded and we are thrilled to bring our long-time industry partner and friend to the DiSTI team,” said Joe Swinski, CEO of DiSTI.