LIFESTYLES -- FEATURE SPOT, Madison, News
Weiland’s career took tech direction
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Weiland served for four years in Germany, led projects across Europe and had assignments in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and Alabama. CONTRIBUTED
MADISON – Peter Weiland entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1979.
He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Army Corps of Engineers, subsequently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in Army Acquisition Corps and served 20 years.
He completed Airborne and Ranger schools at Fort Benning, Ga. and Engineer Officer’s Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, Va. He returned to Fort Benning with 36th Engineer Group.
After Pathfinder school, he finished advance training at Fort Belvoir. He was assigned to 18th Engineer Brigade in Karlsruhe, Germany for four years, including eight-month project in Grafenwoehr.
“We absolutely loved our time in Germany. As unit commander, I had construction projects from Norway to Greece,” he said.
He was selected for graduate school at Rice University and was assigned to TRADOC HQ at Fort Monroe, Va. “I worked in Artificial Intelligence Center, led all Army robotic system requirements and worked future Army systems from a technology perspective,” Weiland said.
After assignment at NASA Langley Research Center, he worked for Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville and retired in 1999 from THAAD Project Office.
Weiland earned master’s and doctorate’s degrees in mechanical engineering (focus – intelligent robotic systems) at Rice University.
“I worked on DARPA Autonomous Navigation and unmanned air systems, so I find this interest in ‘Google unmanned car and Amazon drones’ a little bit of ‘been there, done that,'” he said.
After military retirement, he continued in R&D with Radiance Technologies as Chief Technology Officer. “I get to dabble in … cyber, space, directed energy, aviation” and other projects. “I built an environmentally friendly, mechanical clam harvester for the Department of Agriculture,” Weiland said.
At Fort Benning, he met wife Lisa, who was in graduate school at Columbus (Ga.) University. They married in 1984. Lisa has worked as a speech pathologist everywhere they’ve lived.
Their sons, Carter and Cooper, both are Bob Jones High School and Auburn University graduates in engineering. Carter and wife Catlin live in New Orleans; he works for Schlumberger. Cooper of Augusta, Ga., works in nuclear energy.
Peter Weiland has participated in Air, Space and Missile Defense Association, IEEE and American Legion.
As empty nesters, the Weilands have returned to organized tennis leagues; his teams have played in statewide tournaments. “I also get some golf in when the ‘honey-do list’ gets under three pages.”
