By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, December 1, 2015 — Protecting the warfighter,
securing government networks and identifying millions of dollars in savings
were among the accomplishments of this year's winners of the Defense Department
award in cyber and information technology.
The recipients of the 2015 Department of Defense Chief
Information Officer Award for Cyber and IT Excellence reflect a range of
government, including the Joint Staff, the intelligence community, and
traditional military services, according to DoD Chief Information Officer Terry
Halvorsen.
"Every year I look at these and think we cannot do any
better, and every year we just get surprised by how good the award winners are
and tough the competition is," Halvorsen said at the awards ceremony at
the Pentagon today.
The event's keynote speaker, the auditor general of the Air
Force, Daniel McMillin, noted the department’s cyber and information technology
operations involve important efforts such as critical satellite communications,
navigations and timing programs, spectrum, and telecommunications.
"That is an extremely large and a very, very complex
portfolio that relies on everybody pulling together to be successful. The
portfolio is becoming more critical to the warfighters' success every single
day," McMillin said.
There were four individual winners and six team winners.
Team winners include the Data Center Consolidation and
Recapitalization Team at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is
credited with efficiencies that are expected to result in an annual cost
savings of more than $40 million.
Sharing Information, Helping War Efforts
Matthew A. Sion, who is based in Germany with the 1st Air
and Space Communications Operations Squadron, won first place in the individual
category. Sion is recognized for contributing to the modernization and
sustainability of the European Command’s Partner Integration Enterprise
portfolio of command and control systems.
Other accomplishments include a NATO standardized desktop
image and the first United States, bilateral, and Special Operations Forces
exploitation in the European theater.
"Within our project, the ability to shave that time
down, building that intelligence information within a shared environment is
immensely important and it has saved an immeasurable amount of time, especially
when it comes to our counter-[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]
operations," Sion said.
The concept, he explained, was "'Let's build together
and share together,' rather than build independently and share what we
want."
Securing Systems
Air Force 1st Lt. Justin Smith is a member of a winning
group: the Air Force Information Network Mission Assurance Center Development
Team at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The award recognizes the
efforts of the members in standing up a 24/7 operations center, specifically
focused on prioritizing large-scale maintenance across the Air Force enterprise
that included 850,000 systems, and streamlining processes for efficiencies,
Smith said.
"Every month, they're responsible for ensuring that
software is being patched to prevent an adversary from exploiting the
vulnerabilities on these systems," he said.
Individual Award, Team Effort
Air Force Capt. James D. Nicholson, the director of
operations at the 707th Communications Squadron at Fort Meade, Maryland, tied
for second place in the individual category.
Even though it was an individual award, there was a team
effort behind it, Nicholson said.
"I share it with the men and women of the 707th
Communications Squadron for all the hard work that they do day in and day out
to get the mission done," he said.
Nicholson is credited with expertly directing 245 cyber,
nuclear, space, and civil engineering professionals executing the wing’s global
cryptologic mission. His efforts contributed to the wing’s first accreditation
of the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network in eight years, according to the
citation. Nicholson’s superior leadership protected critical U.S. data by
directing an incident response team in expelling adversaries from the White
House network, the citation said.
The team, which was working at the White House, received
thanks from President Barack Obama for a job well done, Nicholson said.
Nicolson said he was humbled to receive the award, and was
especially glad his family was in attendance.
"The efforts that we do every day with the DoD
sometimes go unnoticed in the cyber realm, so to get recognized at this level
is an extreme honor and a blessing," he said.
The winners of the 2015 Defense Department Chief Information
Officer Annual Awards:
Individual Category, First Place
Matthew A. Sion, 1st Air and Space Communications Operations
Squadron
Chief, Systems Support, European Partner Integration
Enterprise
U.S. Air Forces Europe, Ramstein, Germany
Sion’s outstanding service to United States Air Forces in
Europe directly contributed to the vital modernization and sustainability of
the European Command’s Partner Integration Enterprise portfolio of command and
control systems that ensured the safety and security of the United States for
the foreseeable future. His steadfast dedication and invaluable experience was
a driving force supporting 49 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle bilateral operations,
maintaining 1,020 hours, time-on-target, creation of 2,760 intelligence
products, 1,800 targets collected and over 1,560 hours of full motion video
providing critical decision making information for two combatant commands in
the fight against anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria and Iraq
operations. His efforts resulted in the successful first North Atlantic Treaty
Organization standardized desktop image and the first United States, bilateral,
and Special Operations Forces exploitation in the European theater.
Individual Category, Second Place (tie)
Air Force Capt. Amber R. Oar
Program Manager Air Force IT Business Analytics Office
AFLCMC Business Enterprise Systems Directorate
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
Oar’s exceptional service to the Air Force Life Cycle
Management Center, Business and Enterprise Systems Directorate directly set the
Air Force on course to achieve the goal set by Secretary of the Air Force
Deborah Lee James. Oar’s relentless pursuit to identify the Enterprise IT led
to many discoveries of critical data sources and identified gaps in
capabilities. Her fact-based analysis
provided senior leadership with information critical to change how the Air
Force manages its IT hardware, software, and services, from cradle to grave.
Additionally, the wholesale improvement in senior leadership visibility of IT
spending will lead to an array of cost saving strategies, and increased
commoditization of IT hardware, software, and services. Based on her careful
analysis and strategy recommendations, the Air Force is poised to save over $30
million. Her analysis to date and continued discovery of efficiencies will lead
the Air Force to achieving a minimum of 20 percent savings on IT procurement.
Individual Category, Second Place (tie)
Air Force Capt. James D. Nicholson
Director, Operations
707th Communications Squadron
Fort Meade, Maryland
Nicholson expertly directed 245 cyber, nuclear, space, and
civil engineering professionals executing the wing’s global cryptologic
mission. His outstanding efforts contributed to the wing’s first accreditation
of the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network in eight years. He led his team
to success by eradicating 1.2 million network vulnerabilities while
simultaneously implementing 244 cyber-security controls earning the wing its
first "Excellent" rating by the Cyber Command Inspector General.
Additionally, he cleverly masterminded a $400,000 network redesign providing
the wing critical network redundancy capabilities. Furthermore, through careful
coordination Nicholson led the installation of $145,000 of information
technology equipment resulting in the standup of the wing’s first Air Defense
Signals Analysis Team Facility. Nicholson’s superior leadership protected
critical U.S. data by directing an incident response team in expelling
adversaries from the White House network, earning praise from President Barack
Obama.
Individual Category, Third Place Winner
Clint E. Maddox
Specialist, Information Technology and Infrastructure
Support Lead
Marine Corps Installation Command, Operations & Energy,
Facilities Systems
Kansas City, Missouri
Maddox’s exemplary leadership and expertise guided the
design and establishment of a $7 million accredited hosting enclave to allow
centralized system management for critical Marine Corps installation
information systems. He led task-organized teams of engineers, architects, and
system administrators to design a hosting platform to enable consolidated
information systems management across all Marine Corps bases, posts, and
stations, centralizing hosted systems from over 500 disparate environments. Seeing
the need for a dedicated application, system test and development environment,
he worked to establish a solution that provides secure analysis in a protected
zone. His vision and perseverance greatly contributed to this technology
implementation and his efforts have bolstered the Enterprise capabilities,
resulting in a more flexible and reliable hosting platform.
Individual Category Winner, Team Category
Air Force Information Network (AFIN) Mission Assurance
Center (AMAC) Development Team
690th Network Support Squadron, Joint Base San
Antonio-Lackland, Texas
The Air Force Information Network Mission Assurance Center
Development Team successfully revamped AFIN Operations processes that saved
83,000 manpower hours annually across three organizations. This effort spanned
over one year resulting in a 24/7 organization that hardened more than 978
million vulnerabilities enterprise-wide securing 850,000 systems. This team
also managed the implementation of the Virtual Enterprise Service Desk
application which redefined the Air Force’s IT service support architecture
saving over $9 million in manpower costs. The tireless efforts of the Air Force
Information Network Mission Assurance Center Development Team have provided an
extraordinary mission assurance capability that will have lasting impact for
the Air Force in the years to come.
Team Category, Winner
Data Center Consolidation and Recapitalization Team
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Data Center
Consolidation and Recapitalization Team’s outstanding efforts delivered
capabilities to analysts across the National System for GEOINT. It reduced
NGA’s forward personnel and material footprint by between 50 and 75 percent and
is estimated to realize an annual cost savings of over $40 million in facility,
personnel, communications, and operating costs. The team also anticipated
changes a year in advance and led the planning for transitioning IT services
out of Afghanistan. This very successful transition was accomplished with no
interruption or degradation to IT services to the warfighter. The team’s
outstanding collaboration with deployed, combatant command, and NGA
stakeholders assured a smooth, operationally focused transition that will save
lives and avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs annually. Additionally,
the team implemented cloud technologies to allow NGA to leverage future
intelligence community ITE and JIE OCONUS capabilities creating efficiencies
for future GEOINT support out to the tactical edge.
Team Category, Winner
The Army National Guard Enterprise IT Service Management
Team
The Army National Guard Enterprise Service Management Team
implemented new capabilities and functionality, added enhanced technology, and
introduced matured processes that increased efficiencies and capabilities,
while providing the states and Enterprise a significant cost savings with the
same level of personnel. With the team’s solutions and services, the states
have avoided funding hardware, license, maintenance, and support costs by
migrating from six different tools used across individual states. State
personnel now have capabilities allowing them to capture and document IT
service management incidents and requests, and execute those actions within
their states. At the enterprise level, with the implementation of these new
technologies, the enterprise team was able to reduce licensing costs by over
$7.4 million over the next 5 years. The team now supports 21 states, over
66,000 users across seven time zones with the new and enhanced enterprise
team’s solutions and services. As a result of their success, there is a waiting
list of states demanding access to the Enterprise ITSM solutions and supported
states are requesting additional services.
Team Category, Winner
Information Assurance Support Environment Program Management
Team
Defense Information Systems Agency
The Defense Information Systems Agency Information Assurance
Support Environment (IASE) Program Management Team successfully sustained IASE
while receiving a 10 percent budget cut and clean sheeting a new contract award
introducing an additional 40 percent savings. The IASE is one of the most
widely used cybersecurity trusted sources serving over four million DoD,
federal and foreign coalition partners, state, local authorities, academia, and
commercial industry partners, with over 107 million hits to the portal per
year. The program management team initiated efficiencies and cost savings
enabling the IASE portal to save more than $5 million through fiscal year 2020.
Team Category, Winner
Project Ghostfire Team
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Project Ghostfire's outstanding engineering, collaboration,
and integration efforts resulted in enhanced streaming and targeting
capabilities delivered to analysts across the National System for
Geospatial-Intelligence. The project reduced the time it takes to receive NTM
and commercial imagery from hours-minutes to seconds. Project Ghostfire enabled
intelligence community, armed services, and combatant command analysts to
rapidly respond to mission critical exploitation and targeting requirements.
The team's collaboration with external mission partners ensured the project
delivered a common, industry standard set of enterprise services that enable
NGA and their partners to drive IT efficiencies and reduced expenditures on
enterprise infrastructure. The implementation of NGA's Enhanced Streaming
Services, afforded the NSG a game-changing improvement in GEOINT information
delivery and dissemination. The ability to rapidly search, discover and
visualize data has an invaluable mission impact in an environment where seconds
matter. These outstanding accomplishments reflect great credit upon the Project
Ghostfire Team, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the
intelligence community.
Team Category, Winner
Tactical Infrastructure Enterprise Services Coalition
Warfare Program Team
Joint Staff J6
The Tactical Infrastructure Enterprise Services Coalition
Warfare Program Team successfully developed and integrated a National
Information Exchange Model-based request/response web service and developed
Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPDs) for position report,
observed position report, air tracks, and situational awareness. The team
posted the IEPDs on the military operations repository for reuse by NATO
partners, the first time information of this type has been exchanged
automatically among NATO participants. The team also conducted Public Key
Infrastructure and web service security testing, and utilized a common data
labeling schema to develop and integrate automated information redaction
capability. This allowed information sharing access control among the 29 NATO
nations and 41 NATO Partnership for Peace nations. This effort enabled NATO to
identify and consider best of breed approaches as potential Federated Mission
Networking and Mission Partner Environment enterprise solutions.
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