Colonel Freeman Bonnette

Project Manager, Self-Propelled Howitzer Systems PEO Ground Combat Systems, US Army

Colonel Freeman T. Bonnette is a native of Saint Matthews, SC. He received his commission as a Field Artillery Officer from the University of South Carolina in 1998. He is a graduate of the United States Army Field Artillery Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, The Combined Armed Services Staff School, The Army Acquisition Basic and Acquisition Intermediate Contracting Courses, Intermediate Level Education, Intermediate Qualification Course, and Senior Service College.

Prior to his arrival at Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, he was a student at the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA. He has served in several positions from Fire Direction Officer; Platoon Leader; Battalion Adjutant/S-1; Officer-in-Charge of the Operations Center and Crisis Action Cell, G-3/5/7, United States Army South; Battalion Logistics Officer/S-4; and Battery Commander. As an Acquisition Officer, he has served as a Contingency Contracting Officer; Contingency Contracting Team Chief; Chief of Contracting, Regional Contracting Center-Regional Command East, Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno Afghanistan; Battalion S-3 Operations & Plans Officer; Deputy Director, Army Contracting Command- Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar; Deputy Commander for Operations-Iraq, U.S. Central Command Combined-Joint Theater Support Contracting Command; Assistant Project Manager for Medical Simulations; Assistant Product Manager for Special Operations Forces Training Systems; Equipping Program Analyst-Integrator, Headquarters, Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7, Pentagon; Training With Industry (TWI) Corporate Fellow-Microsoft; and Product Manager for two Army modernization priorities developed through the Product Management Office for Maneuver Collective Training Systems: Squad Immersive Virtual Trainer - Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) and the Strategic Integrator for the Synthetic Training Environment (STE), Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI).

His command assignments include: 12 months as Commander, D Battery, 2d Battalion, 80th Field Artillery Battalion, 21 months as Commander, F Battery 1st Battalion, 19th Field Artillery Battalion, Fort Sill, OK; and 37 months as a Command Select List (CSL) Product Manager for the Maneuver Collective Training Systems (MCTS) Orlando, FL.

Colonel Bonnette earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and holds two master’s degrees, one from the University of Oklahoma and the United States Army War College. He is a Strategic Studies Executive Fellow from the University of North Carolina Institute for Defense and Business and maintains an Advanced certification in Program Management, Professional certification in Contracting, and Practitioner certification in Engineering and Technical Management. He is a Strategist, Lean Six Sigma-Black Belt, Certified Agile SCRUM Master, and a member of the United States Army Acquisition Corps.

His military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal, and the Combat Action and Army Staff Identification Badges. He deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.