In 1998 Dusty began working at Patuxent River Naval Air Station at the Hazardous Materials Warehouse. After subsequent positions in the Information Resource Management Office and PMA-207, in 2006 she moved to the Naval Air Systems Command Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) office. During her time in the NAVAIR SBIR office, she served as the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Lead, with a brief intermission, from 2015-2016, as the Department of the Navy STTR/STP Program Manager. In 2016 she moved to the Department of Homeland Defense SBIR program.