Four individuals and eight teams were honored for their outstanding contributions to excellence in information management/information technology during the Department of the Navy IT Conference, Jan. 24, in San Diego.
The John J. Lussier Electromagnetic Spectrum Leadership award, which recognizes superior achievement in electromagnetic spectrum management and use, was also presented at the conference.
The annual DON IM/IT Excellence Awards recognize IM/IT projects, teams and individuals that have helped to transform the Navy and Marine Corps through information technology.
DON Chief Information Officer Mr. Terry Halvorsen and DON Deputy CIO (Navy) Ms. Janice Haith recognized the following individuals and teams for their hard work and dedication to furthering the DON's IM/IT strategic goals.
David Green, senior level chief technology advisor, Headquarters Marine Corps/C4: for his visionary leadership and support in the development of an enterprise architecture five-year strategic plan and in overseeing the new Marine Corps IT Procurement Request/Review Approval System, which facilitates enterprise level visibility of Marine Corps procurement requests. In 2011 the system facilitated the review of more than 6,800 IT procurement requests totaling more than $1.1 billion, achieving a cost avoidance of more than $150 million.
Peter Kelley, USMC Information Assurance (IA) Manager, Total Force Information Technology System (TFITS): for his outstanding performance in managing the IA program for the USMC TFITS Program Office portfolio, which includes 62 projects sponsored by seven USMC organizations and more than 600 software releases annually with possible IA impact. Through his efforts, the program office achieved 100 percent compliance with the DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process and dramatically improved its percentage of fully accredited projects. Kelley managed the improvement of the Federal Information Security Management Act from 24 percent compliance in early 2011 to 84 percent compliance as of August 2011.
CWO2 Rafael Masalbaladejo, USMC Network Operations and Systems Officer: for his exceptional skills in designing and implementing a private Internet Protocol address solution for the Defense Switched Network Voice over Internet Protocol network for Forward Operating Base (FOB) Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. The successful design led to the use of this same plan and execution strategy by two other FOBs in Afghanistan.
Deborah Olson, program manager, Marine Corps Enterprise Services: for her superior management skills, consolidating infrastructure supporting legacy and virtual application services and data environments with a common validation and inclusion process. The consolidation reduces costs, improves access to enterprise information and provides a collaborative sharing environment. Olson also delivered the first Marine Corps instance of a validated and accredited cloud computing environment through the achievement of the Marine Corps Enterprise Information Technology Services Initial Operating Capability in July 2011.
Center for Information Dominance (CID) Information Systems Technician of the Future (IToF) Team: for developing a DON $134 million fully resourced and implemented phased IT/IA workforce strategic training solution that expertly balanced complex training requirements, captured and realigned enduring assets, and secured funding to further DoD/DON IM/IT strategic goals. Team CID designed and deployed an expandable virtual lab network infrastructure accepted as the Navy enterprise solution that provided cost savings in hardware, technical refresh, and lifecycle maintenance support estimated at $6.2 million across the Future Years Defense Program.
Center for SEAL and Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (CENSEALSWCC) IM/IT Team: for significantly increasing the commanders' knowledge management (KM) capability by providing the ability to extract timely and accurate data on the operational characteristics of their units and individuals within their units, enhancing organizational efficiency and operational effectiveness by improving the commanders' employment of their units' human capital. Additionally, leveraging an existing enterprise IM/IT system saved time and money, improved the KM of Naval Special Warfare commanders, increased mission effectiveness and improved electronic records management.
N2/N6 Enterprise Electromagnetic Environmental Effects and Spectrum Management Team: for its efforts on the Electromagnetic Spectrum Usage Roadmap, which will ensure warfighter access to critical electromagnetic spectrum resources, and the National Broadband Plan, which established an enterprise process to assess the technical, operational and financial impacts and feasibility of reallocating military and federal radio frequencies. The team's effort has ensured that Navy capabilities for training were not compromised, resulting in a minimum initial cost avoidance of more than $2.3 billion to develop new off shore training ranges and a minimum annual recurring cost avoidance of more than $300 million to train Naval forces farther off shore to mitigate the impact of lost spectrum and increased interference to commercial wireless service providers.
Naval Network Enterprise Pacific (NNE Pacific) ITCS(Seal) Dan Healy Communications Center: for outstanding achievement in planning, leading and executing the successful transition of pacific region Naval and joint telecommunications and information technology services to the ITCS (Seal) Dan Healy Communications Center, orchestrating and executing the largest and most complex theater-wide communications shift ever undertaken in the U.S. Navy's history. The new ITCS (Seal) Dan Healy Communications Center, which provides automated real-time situational awareness and dynamic, agile management of Pacific C4I networks, will be better positioned to meet Pacific theater conflict plans and operational plans well into the future.
Department of the Navy Enterprise Software Licensing, Software Asset Management and Tools (ESL AM&T) IPT: for the exceptional efforts of a diverse group of Navy and Marine Corps military and civilian personnel, who collaborated and delivered four options for implementation of a net-centric enterprise solution for IT asset management that could save the DON 10 percent to 30 percent per annum within its IT asset spending.
Navy Reserve Force Navy Operational Support Center NNWF Team: for the team's superior leadership, technical acumen and perseverance in guiding multiple organizations to provide Navy Reserve Wi-Fi access to Navy Reserve Sailors at the operational level. The NNWF project is the first DoD/DON approved wide scale deployment of commercial Wi-Fi to operational sites for the purpose of completing mission- and readiness-related tasking. The solution provides secure and reliable access to Navy selected reserve members for fewer dollars than other alternatives.
NNWC/FCC/PEO-EIS/SPAWAR C2 Information Management Team [for command and control of NMCI through the Continuity of Services Contract (COSC)]: for outstanding contributions on an information management project that resulted in the development and implementation of command and control (C2) processes for NMCI. The effort resulted in the integration of government and vendor processes at key flow points; common understanding of data and information by C2 personnel; increased transparency in network status; and the integration of the "Operational Layer" and "Global Tactical" for network actions supporting the warfighter and the network operator.
Task Force NIMBLE MATRIX (TFNM) (HBSS Acceleration) Team: for its innovative approach to meeting the Chief of Naval Operation's mandate to field the Host Based Security System (HBSS) to afloat SIPR networks and deploying HBSS to 348 U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command platforms in an unprecedented timeline of less than eight months. The team ultimately provided training to 762 fleet operational and support personnel.
Robert Marcial received the John J. Lussier Electromagnetic Spectrum Leadership Award in recognition of his superior performance as chief, Pacific Joint Frequency Management Office, Pacific Command (PACOM). Marcial was recognized for his visionary leadership and foresight in identifying critical spectrum-related requirements in the Pacific Area of Responsibility (AOR) and developing innovative solutions to those requirements.
In 2011, Marcial headed the Pacific Joint Frequency Management Office through some of the most tumultuous months in PACOM's recent history. His leadership during PACOM's relief efforts for Japan during Operation Tomodachi (initiated as a result of the earthquake and tsunami) ensured that spectrum control was complete and thorough, removing impediments that threatened to delay the relief effort.
The ultimate result of this effort was Mercury, the world's first multinational online spectrum coordination tool. In its first year of development, Mercury is set to become a local standard for spectrum planning in disaster-relief operations by nations in PACOM's AOR. Marcial's significant contributions also include leadership initiatives such as improved spectrum education and awareness, coordination activities with senior-level foreign nation military personnel, and spectrum processes and policies that benefit all DON commands within the PACOM AOR.
The John J. Lussier Electromagnetic Spectrum Leadership Award is named for the former DON Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer who lost his courageous battle with cancer in June 2009. Lussier was an advocate for protecting the DON's equities in the electromagnetic spectrum and advanced the DON's strategic vision for spectrum. This award is presented to an individual who demonstrates superior achievement in Navy and Marine Corps electromagnetic spectrum management and use.
Also, five information technology leaders from the DON were among this year’s Federal 100 Award winners. Federal Computer Week magazine presents the award to 100 government and industry leaders who have played pivotal roles in effecting change, progress and efficiency in determining how the federal government acquires, develops and manages IT. The 2012 DON Fed 100 Award winners are:
Russell C. Coleman, Lead Systems Engineer, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Atlantic, Charleston
CMDR Randy Darrow, Director, Enterprise Services, Office of the Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer
Dan DelGrosso, Director, Naval Networks and Enterprise Services, Office of the Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer
BGen Kevin Nally, Department of the Navy Deputy Chief Information Officer, U.S. Marine Corps
Capt Martin M. Minnich, Communications Officer, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni