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TURKIYE CHAPTER - 01/12/2021 
Chapter officers visited the corporate member TARGET AS. Yalcin Onyuru, founder and CEO, stated that on the 45th anniversary of the company, he donated 45 percent of the company shares to the young employees he trained. TARGET has been a corporate member for 30 years almost from the establishment of the chapter. TARGET has been one of the pioneers in the Turkish defense industry, since 1975 and over the course of time, they have grown their business to include 40 local and foreign companies, providing a wide range of solutions with the latest products and technologies, along with offering reliable services.
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TURKIYE CHAPTER - 01/04/2021
In the video conference presented by Rear Adm. Ergun Mengi (Ret.), the economic and strategic importance of the seas was emphasized first. Historical developments in the Turkish maritime, especially the breakthroughs in the Ataturk period, were explained. In addition, recommendations were made regarding what needs to be done to become a maritime nation.
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DAYTON-WRIGHT CHAPTER - 01/04/2021 In January, the outgoing chapter president announced the 2021 chapter officers supporting the local Wright-Patterson Air Force Base community. The elected officers will be sworn in at the January monthly luncheon. The following individuals are elected as indicated: Chapter President: Yvonne Vermillion, Segue Technologies Executive Vice President: Krystin Fakalata, Macalogic Vice President, Information: Beth Whitehead, Archer Vice President, Membership: Maurice Wheeler, Maurice's Management Consulting Vice President, Programs: Joni Ahlers, Segue Technologies Vice President, Education: Andy Higgins, AJHiggins LLC Vice President, Chapter Operations: Bill McGuffey, FTI Vice President of Enlisted Affairs: Wade Rupper, Telos Vice president of Networking: Carl "Shof" Shofner, OST Global Treasurer : John Garrity, Brixey & Meyer Secretary: Adrianna Templeton-Jones, Bering Straits Native Corporation |
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PALMETTO CHAPTER - 12/29/2020
The chapter ended the year on a great note as it was awarded the Model Chapter Award again for the fifth year in a row. The Palmetto Chapter is small and associated with two big Air Force mission commands located on Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. U.S. Air Forces Central (USAFCENT) and U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) Headquarters reside here, and this chapter does its best to hear all the concerns of these two important missions, especially the communications and information warfighters stationed here and deployed to southwest Asia. Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, USA, (Ret.), president, University of South Carolina, spoke to the chapter at a luncheon in October on the topic of the Cyber Centers of Excellence that the University is currently operating. The goal of the centers is to develop cyber professionals at their campus in Aiken, South Carolina, and to collaborate with the Army Signal Corp Cyber Center of Excellence in Augusta, Georgia. He said they will be developing a similar fa ... READ MORE
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FORT KNOX GOLD VAULT CHAPTER - 12/17/2020
In December, the chapter hosted its end of year General Membership Meeting online. This event was sponsored by EXETER. The participants enjoyed an informative presentation by Brig. Gen. James T. Iacocca, USA (Ret.), of the Kentucky Regional Development Alliance. The chapter also presented awards to outstanding members and elected the 2021 chapter officers. Gen. Iacocca spoke about the training and employment opportunities his organization, Knox Regional Development Alliance (KRDA), facilitates for the Knox community through Elizabethtown Community Technical College (ECTC), among others. In addition, he discussed the objectives of his organization to advocate for industry to invest in Fort Knox and the surrounding communities. During the awards presentation, Christopher Aycock, chapter vice president of awards, presented awards and certificates to outstanding members. Derek Massey, chapter vice president of programs, received the General George S. Patton Jr. AFCEAN Lea ... READ MORE |
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NORTHERN VIRGINIA CHAPTER - 12/15/2020
The chapter's 19th Annual Air and Space Forces IT Day with this year's theme of "Accelerating Air, Space and Cyber Digital Transformation" was held virtually in December. This was a full day of Air Force and Space Force senior leadership as well as a variety of panelists from U.S. Defense Department, industry and academia that provided insight and opportunity for industry. Tamara Greenspan, event chair and chapter past president, kicked off the day by introducing the morning keynote speaker Lauren Knausenberger, deputy chief information officer, U.S. Air Force, who gave industry insights into her program, including the focus for more UX (user experience), better collaboration between branches and a unique approach towards ending legacy network-related policies, process and or equipment redundancy in a project called Operation Flamethrower. Various panels throughout the day included: Key Tenets of the Data Strategy and How They Operationalize in this Space; Round Table Discussion: De ... READ MORE
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LEXINGTON-CONCORD CHAPTER - 12/15/2020
Johnathan Holifield, executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) was the featured guest speaker at the chapter's Diversity Series webinar, sponsored by Booz/Allen/Hamilton, in mid-December. Holifield heads the federal government effort to promulgate Executive Order 13779 to help HBCUs successfully compete for top opportunities in national and global markets while providing highest quality education and economic experience/opportunities to improve the living standards of students and communities they serve. He explained how the Initiative partners with federal agencies, private sector employers, philanthropic and academic organizations, and others to help HBCUs achieve objectives. He also provided an in-depth explanation of the three primary focus areas of the Initiative, which include: programs (long-term activities owned and delivered by the Initiative); projects (shorter-term, discretionary actions outside normal organiz ... READ MORE
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HAWAII CHAPTER - 12/15/2020 In December, the chapter welcomed Brig. Gen. Jan C. Norris, commander, 311th Signal Command (Theater), and his presentation titled, "Army Communication in the Pacific." The speech comes just a day after news of the suspected nation-state supported hack of major cybersecurity company SolarWinds and its effect on all six branches of the U.S. military. "Our mission is similar to AFCEA's," Gen. Norris began, "...connect people." He said discussing the Army's short term communications goals in the region, its priorities during the transition and how industry can support the effort. Near term, the Army plans to increase joint force lethality, enhance network design and posture, as well as strengthen allies and partnerships, while meeting their overall objective, "keeping the network running.' "Don't expect praise when things go well; expect hell when they don't," Norris joked, highlighting the criticality of communications in the region. Going forward, Gen. Nor ... READ MORE |
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SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER - 12/14/2020 In December 2020, the chapter's small business committee hosted a virtual panel of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) subject matter experts moderated by Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, USA, special assistant to the DISA commander. With the theme "Empowering Partnerships-Driving Innovations." Chapter President Jay Anson briefed U.S. Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) mission and current priorities. Gen. Yee provided a comprehensive overview of available and emerging technologies that support both SOUTHCOM and the greater U.S. Defense Department. He closed the panel with an excellent overview of DISA's small business program. The event covered a range of topics: Commercial Solutions for Classified, Mobility, Fourth Estate, Big Data and Robotic Process Automation, DOD Mobility Unclassified Capability, Cloud Computing, and the "DISA 101" training opportunities for small businesses that want to work with DISA. Many thanks to our members who joined the webinar for your support, espec ... READ MORE |
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TURKIYE CHAPTER - 12/12/2020
During the December virtual event, Arda Mevlutoglu introduced the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic over the global and local defense sectors. He also discussed expectations in near, medium and long-term effects of the epidemic on the sector. In addition to the threats posed by the pandemic in the sector, the group discussed opportunities.
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LOS ANGELES CHAPTER - 12/10/2020
Col. Peter J. Flores, USAF, presented at the December online meeting. Col. Flores is the commander for Space Training and Readiness Delta (Provisional), STAR Delta (P), Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. STAR Delta (P) prepares U.S. Space Force (USSF) forces to prevail in a contested, degraded and operationally limited environment through the education and training of space professionals across core and common specialty codes; development of space warfighting doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures; and the test and evaluation of USSF capabilities.
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KAISERSLAUTERN CHAPTER - 12/10/2020
In December, the chapter organized a virtual professional development seminar (PDS) on Leveraging Multi-Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) and application to incorporate the Tactical Edge. Matt Waterfield, a data center product specialist from CISCO, led the PDS by addressing that the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) provides critical resources enabling modern AI/ML technologies. Modern SDDCs leverage elastic fabric architectures that automatically scale resources based on real-time use and projected demand. These fabrics allow cloud and on-premise resources to present as a single transparent resource with consistent policy management and inherent security. The real value of SDDCs is realized when extended across a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN). SD-WAN technologies allow access and transport across any transport (SATCOM, MPLS, Fiber, 5G, etc.) Previous distributed computing designs relied heavily on large compute and storage resourc ... READ MORE |
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ALAMO CHAPTER - 12/10/2020
The Alamo and Tidewater Chapters came together for the last event of the year. The two chapters co-hosted a virtual luncheon featuring guest speaker, Col. Kyle Stevens, USAF, the commander of the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. She discussed the next generation transformation initiatives for artificial intelligence and machine learning. The virtual luncheon concluded with a Zoom networking session that allowed participants to network with others. A chat room function was utilized to keep the conversation going among each room lead. We look forward to more networking (hopefully in person) in 2021!
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LEXINGTON-CONCORD CHAPTER - 12/08/2020
Anthony P. Reardon, administrative assistant to the secretary of the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., was the featured guest speaker at the chapter's New Horizons Distinguished Speaker webinar in early December. Reardon, the senior civilian advisor to the secretary, administers/manages the Office of the Secretary (SAF) and oversees the execution/programming of the Air Force Headquarters portfolio (annual budget of $5.6 billion and 37,000 personnel). Reardon gave participants an exceptionally informative look into the broad scope of the SAF/AA organization and discussed other topics, including the stand up of the U.S. Space Force; the primary focus of the Air Force chief's top four priorities; enterprise information technology (IT)-as-a-service; and integration of commercial IT into the U.S. Defense Department and associated challenges. He concluded with a glimpse into the effects of COVID-19 on the National Capital Region, noting that a full-scale, secure vi ... READ MORE
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