 After more than 20 years in research and development for the United States Air Force, he joined the Mitre Corporation in McLean, Virginia, where he continued his research for another 25 years.The majority of his work at MITRE was for the Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) supporting the United States Department of Defense.Elkins was the recipient of the 1979 Harold Brown Award.