People

People

Tara Battle

External Advisory Board Member

Biography

Ms. Shitarria Battle is the Chief Engineer for the Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) Systems Development branch within the Missile Defense Agency. Ms. Battle provides technical direction to over 250 military, government civilians and contractors dispersed in the United States while managing requirements, ensuring test quality, and overseeing integration across the entire program. She led the program through the transition from waterfall-style software development to the scaled Agile development method, establishing new Missile Defense Agency policies and procedures.

Ms. Battle was a test engineer for five years with the Army Test and Evaluation Command serving in the Command’s Operational Test Agency.  In this position, Ms. Battle led multiple projects including international ground test events where she managed a team of engineers dispersed across three continents.

Ms. Battle earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University. Ms. Battle is certified in Test and Evaluation, Engineering and a member of the Acquisition Professional Community.

Ms. Battle served as an engineering mentor with the Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering 100+ Women Strong organization as well as a mentor with the University of Florida W.E Rise program. Ms. Battle served as a member of the Junior League of Huntsville where she volunteered with local women leaders to improve the Huntsville/Madison community through fundraising, advocacy and community programming.

Ms. Battle was the 2020 Women of Color Magazine “Managerial Leadership in Government” award recipient and a University of Florida 2021 40 under 40 Honoree.