Jacqueline V Combs

Jacqueline V. Combs serves as a key procurement lead within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (AFRL/PZL), supporting the Department of the Air Force’s mission to develop next-generation aerospace propulsion, hypersonic systems, and advanced functional materials. She manages complex technical acquisitions spanning fundamental research, prototype development, and transition-ready technologies critical to air and space dominance. Her portfolio includes contracts for propulsion system integration, adaptive flight control architectures, and high-temperature materials, often requiring specialized engineering expertise and rapid prototyping capabilities. Combs plays a central role in aligning acquisition strategies with AFRL’s innovation pipeline, ensuring timely delivery of mission-critical capabilities to warfighters. Combs maintains consistent partnerships with leading defense and aerospace contractors including UES Inc., General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc., and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These relationships reflect a focus on high-performance engineering firms with proven capabilities in propulsion systems, composite manufacturing, and systems integration. Her contracting patterns indicate a preference for established industry leaders with deep technical experience in aerospace propulsion and hypersonics, often engaging them through competitive, performance-based solicitations that emphasize innovation and technical risk reduction. Combs’s procurement activity reflects a strong emphasis on open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside classifications. This pattern underscores a mission-driven focus on technical capability over socioeconomic preferences, prioritizing the most qualified vendors capable of delivering advanced propulsion and materials solutions under stringent performance and schedule constraints. While small business participation is not formally incentivized through set-asides, small firms may still compete as subcontractors or through broader industry teaming arrangements. Her technical focus centers on aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, and advanced materials, aligning with NAICS categories related to aerospace product and parts manufacturing, scientific R&D services, and composite material production. She procures high-temperature alloys, ceramic matrix composites, fuel injection systems, and integrated propulsion testbeds, supporting AFRL’s efforts to transition laboratory innovations into operational platforms.