MAJ Dave Pert is an instructor in the Department of Physics & Nuclear Engineering at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in ˮAV˵, New York.
He commissioned into the Ordnance Corps from ROTC in 2010, completed Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) school in 2012 and transferred into Functional Area 52 (nuclear and counter-weapons of mass destruction) in 2020.
Pert served as a platoon leader and company executive officer for the 663rd Ordnance Company (EOD) and assistant S-3 for the 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) at Fort Carson, Colorado. During this time, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2013-14. Pert commanded the Headquarters and Headquarters Company for the 710th Brigade Support Battalion at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He was selected for Training with Industry as a guest scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, with a follow-on utilization as a combat developer and officer training developer in Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia.
He holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology with a thesis in machine learning for nuclear fuel cycle detection, a bachelor's degree in physics from Wright State University with a published senior project in fast-curing organic scintillator characterization, and a bachelor's in psychology from Binghamton University. Pert is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies and Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.
Pert married his wife Lydia in 2014, and they have two cats: Sheldon Coo-Pert and Pamela Hal-Pert. He is a private pilot, skydiver, scuba diver, travel hacker, firearms enthusiast and bourbon connoisseur.
M.S., Nuclear Engineering - Air Force Institute of Technology
B.A., Physics - Wright State University
B.A., Psychology - Binghamton University