Dennis Lloyd Cunningham, 53, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and a senior military consultant since 1998 with the McLean offices of the IIT Research Institute, died April 27, 2001, of cancer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Colonel Cunningham was born in Cincinnati and was a 1971 graduate of Bowling Green State University. He began his Army career that year and was a helicopter pilot flying combat missions during the Vietnam conflict. His decorations include a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

He moved to the Washington area in the early 1970s, settling in Alexandria. He was assigned to the Pentagon and specialized in aviation and force development before his retirement in 1998.

His marriage to Vanessa Thompson ended in divorce.

Survivors include a son, Christopher Grant Cunningham of Odenton, and his parents, William and Jane Cunningham of Cincinatti.