Ms. Nicole (Nikki) Brockhoff is performing the duties of (PTDO) Deputy Director for Land and Expeditionary Warfare for the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation. In this capacity, she is directly responsible for the adequacy of operational and live fire test and evaluation for Army and Marine Corps weapons systems.
Ms. Brockhoff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-medical and Molecular biology from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2000 and a Master of Science in Biotechnology and Biodefense from the Johns Hopkins University in 2005.
Ms. Brockhoff began her federal career in 2005 as an Army vulnerability and lethality analyst at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. At ARL, Ms. Brockhoff was the lead analyst for the high-profile Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) live fire test program and led a team that generated assessments from hundreds of live fire tests conducted on more than 15 MRAP variants. She joined DOT&E as a live fire action officer in 2009. At DOT&E, Ms. Brockhoff was the primary analyst for live fire testing of the MRAP Family of Vehicles, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), and other ground combat and tactical wheeled vehicles. She received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal for her efforts on the DOT&E MRAP evaluation and the Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for successfully coordinating with the Army to efficiently plan JLTV live fire testing.
As a result of her expertise in live fire testing, she was nominated by her international peers to serve as the chairperson of a NATO Human Factors in Medicine Research Task Group charged with issuing updated standards for under-vehicle blast testing. Under her leadership, the group successfully aggregated data and technologies from multiple NATO and other allies and published a NATO report in 2022.
Ms. Brockhoff later served as a DOT&E Action Officer for Navy systems, including surface ship self-defense for the CVN 78 and other amphibious ships. She received the Department of the Navy Test Team Award for her work with the Navy in leveraging pre-deployment exercises to support the IOT&E of USS America (LHA-6).
Ms. Brockhoff is an avid weightlifter and scuba diver and lives in northern Virginia.