DTRA Welcomes Major Benjamin Fried 2009

Class of 2009 alumnus Major Ben Fried currently remains on active duty in the United States Air Force and works as a program manager in the research and development group at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Washington, D.C. 

In his position, Major Fried’s work portfolio consists of various artificial intelligence and machine learning programs that benefit joint services, special operators, and many other first responders who may be involved in nuclear, chemical, or biological attacks on the homeland or abroad. Additionally, he works with a team of about 25 engineers who work together to build out different mobile app and web-based capabilities. The tools are frequently tested in operational type exercises and test events, he said. 

Prior to joining the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Major Fried spent some time doing counter terrorism in the Middle East. He also worked at the Air Force research labs in Albuquerque, N.M., researching laser effects on satellites as well as using ground-based telescopes to identify objects in LEO and GEO.

Outside of work, Major Fried said he enjoys playing ice hockey and staying active with road and mountain biking. Major Fried is the brother of Class of 2012 alumna Simona Fried.