Adrian V. Polk

Adrian V. Polk, Colonel USAF (Ret.) passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 10, 2019 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He is survived by his wife Rosemary Harris, the mother of his children Bernice Polk, son Robert, daughter Cynthia, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Born in Jackson, Mississippi on November 24, 1934, to Hiram and Maxine (Kelly) Polk, Col. Polk earned a B.S at Mississippi State University and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1955. He earned a M.S in Nuclear Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1962. Col. Polk distinguished himself by more than 30 years of sustained superior contributions to the defense of the United States and the missions of the Defense Special Weapons Agency and its predecessors. In his early years as an Air Force pilot, he flew multi-engine transports throughout the Pacific region for the Military Airlift Command. After completing assignments in California, Hawaii and Ohio, then-Captain Polk and his family moved to Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. He joined the Defense Special Weapons Agency as Project Officer for the High Altitude Sampling Program at the Nevada test site. In this role, he measured the burden of radionuclides injected into the stratosphere by the 1961-62 atmospheric test series. The results were converted into accurate predictions of worldwide fallout through the remainder of the decade. At the peak of the Agency’s underground nuclear test program in the mid-1960s, then-Major Polk became Chief of Air Force Weapons Laboratory’s Underground Test Group that managed most of the Agency’s horizontal line-of-sight tests into the early 1970s. He was directly and personally involved in 11 of those tests, most of which provided unexpected but correctable results in the Minuteman, Poseidon, and Sentinel strategic systems. In 1970-71, then-Lt. Col. Polk distinguished himself by meritorious achievement while participating in sustained aerial flight as a Mission Pilot with the Operations Flight, 314th Air Division, Osan Air Base, Korea. Over the course of this assignment, he was presented the Air Medal (Two Oak Leaf Clusters) for courageous airmanship and dedication to the successful accomplishment of significant reconnaissance missions, under extremely hazardous conditions. The citation included: “The professional ability and outstanding aerial accomplishments of Colonel Polk reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.” Upon completion of his tour of duty in Korea, he and his family moved to Virginia, where he attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Ft. McNair. At USAF Headquarters in the 1970s, now-Colonel Polk shepherded the M-X strategic missile through its first acquisition approval milestone. He successfully advocated for a joint Agency-USAF program to ensure M-X survivability. During this period, Col. Polk’s exemplary leadership, technical and management expertise, foresight and untiring efforts were directly instrumental in the initiation and completion of numerous strategic missile and nuclear weapon development programs of major national significance. In 1975, Col. Polk rejoined the Agency as Chief of the Radiation Directorate. During this tenure, he oversaw programs that modeled nuclear effects on military systems. The models included empirical data collected by teams he managed and supported ten years before at the Nevada test site. Upon completion of this assignment, the Secretary of Defense awarded Col. Polk the Defense Superior Service medal. In 1979, Col. Polk served as a detachment commander of the ROTC program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continued in this role until his retirement from the USAF in 1981. After retirement from active duty, Col. Polk began his career with Logicon RDA, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. There, he continued to assist the Defense Special Weapons Agency in its many programs, including its transition to the post-Cold-War environment and emphasis on counter proliferation. Upon retirement from the private sector, Col. Polk continued to perform consulting services for Defense Department contractors until 2008. In his later years, Col. Polk’s primary interests revolved around his golf game, the family dogs, expanding his Roseville Pottery collection and spending time with his wife at their second home in the Shenandoah valley. In 2015, the couple downsized and moved to The Fairfax at Belvoir Woods, where he resided until his death. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Col. Adrian V. Polk, USAF (Ret.) to either of the following: Army Retirement Residence Foundation-Potomac 9140 Belvoir Woods Parkway Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060-2703 http://www.arrfp.org/ OR Animal Welfare League of Alexandria 4101 Eisenhower Ave. Alexandria, VA 22304 https://alexandriaanimals.org/support-us/