HAWAII CHAPTER - 05/08/2018
The chapter's featured speaker in May was Capt. Herman Archibald, USN, commanding officer, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, Pacific (NCTAMS PAC). The station is the main command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) capabilities provider in the Pacific and, as such, works hard to drive technology trends and improvements throughout the enterprise. Capt. Archibald spoke proudly about how the station has improved the Authorized Service Interruption (ASI) process and was adamant that the service must run information technology networks like a business to "fight like a warfighter." He discussed how network robustness is only restricted by the dollars spent on the networks-the old adage "you get what you pay for." The captain mentioned that commercial satellite communications is a robust industry, and the government should invest more time and effort in learning how it could be transformational for the military. He also said network defense i ... READ MORE
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HAWAII CHAPTER - 05/01/2018
Chapter President Lt. Col. Callistus Elbourne, USAF, attended the ROTC Joint Awards Ceremony in May at the University of Hawaii. The colonel presented AFCEA Honor Awards to Cadets Darius DeSpain, Air Force ROTC, and Dexter Manglicmot, Army ROTC.
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ABERDEEN CHAPTER - 05/01/2018
The chapter's Young AFCEANs hosted this year's first Leadership Breakfast in May. Held two to three times a year, the breakfast invites senior leaders from Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) and the surrounding area to discuss their careers with the Young AFCEANs. The May event featured Veronica Ewing, deputy project manager for Mission Command, part of the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T). Ewing focused her presentation on how to encourage more collaboration between government and industry, how to attract candidates to the U.S. Defense Department and how to best balance family, career and health. Audience participation and discussion were enthusiastic. The Leadership Breakfast series provides a professional development forum for junior to midlevel professionals to learn from and network with local government, military, industry and academic leaders in a casual, intimate roundtable style. The chapter's Young AFCEANs look forward t ... READ MORE
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LEXINGTON-CONCORD CHAPTER - 04/26/2018
Endeavor Robotics hosted a group of the chapter's Young AFCEANs at its Chelmsford, Massachusetts, facility in April as part of the chapter's professional development/education series. Endeavor Robotics is the largest supplier of robots to the U.S. Department of Defense as well as the leading supplier of battle-tested unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) globally. The company partners with U.S. and international defense forces, law enforcement, energy and industrial users to design innovative robotic solutions that support a wide range of missions. Young AFCEANs, including cadets from the University of Massachusetts Lowell who were participating in their first chapter function, learned how Endeavor employs forward-looking technology to develop autonomous control systems and surface vehicles to safely replace manned systems. The Young AFCEANs and students were treated to demonstrations of the company's autonomous self-piloting systems designed to perform repetitive and quantifiable marine ... READ MORE
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ABERDEEN CHAPTER - 04/25/2018
Chapter members got "Kuffed for Kids" in April to support the Boys and Girls Clubs (BGC) of Harford and Cecil Counties in Maryland. The annual fundraiser, co-sponsored by the Young AFCEANs and the Professional Roundtable of Harford County, raises money to send BGC kids to a summer camp focused on STEM. Participants got into the spirit of the event by posing as "inmates"-complete with real uniforms from the Harford County Detention Center-who needed to raise "bail funds" for their release. The group raised more than $6,000 for the BGC, enabling a class of kids to attend the weeklong STEM camp at APG's Army Research Laboratory. In addition to the $6,000 in "bail," the event venue, MaGerks Pub and Grille in Bel Air, also donated 15 percent of its dinner sales to the BGC. The chapter thanks everyone who supported its cause.
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ALAMO CHAPTER - 04/24/2018
A first-of-its-kind panel of senior enlisted service members focused on talking points from the operations side of the house during the chapter's April luncheon. Chief Master Sgt. Michelle Stavig, USAF, the panel moderator, opened the discussion with, "Let's get excited about cyber!" Giving pain to enemies is the goal, she said, then asking fellow panelists about their passions. Chief Master Sgt. Manuel Matute, USAF, explained that his focus is passing on knowledge to the next generation. Other panelists agreed, including Chief Master Sgt. Bryan Neumann, who said he was passionate about building teams of warfighting airmen. "We need airmen with a warfighting mindset to inflict pain on the adversary. That's why we wear this uniform ... to be in not-so-good places at not-so-good times," he said. The panel also discussed how the Air Force's mission defense teams and cyber protection teams are the primary maneuver force for Enterprise IT as a Service. When the "fixed force" becomes over ... READ MORE
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LOS ANGELES CHAPTER - 04/19/2018
Tom Fitzgerald, director of engineering at the Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, spoke at the chapter's April lunch meeting. Chapter officials attending the meeting were Bill Page, president, Lane Gilchrist, vice president, finance, and Michael Plantenga, chapter secretary.
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KAISERSLAUTERN CHAPTER - 04/19/2018
The chapter honored several award winners and welcomed a guest speaker during its April luncheon at the Ramstein Officers' Club, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Tech. Sgt. David Kimbrough, USAF, received the chapter's Young AFCEAN Emerging Leader Award. Two other chapter members earned recognition from AFCEA International. Master Sgt. Amanda Bradley, USAF, received the Meritorious Service Award, and 2nd Lt. Dillon Andrews, USAF, accepted the Meritorious Rising Star Award for Achievement in Information Technology. Col. Neal Bruegger, USAF, chapter president, introduced guest speaker Derek Sedlack, associate professor of cybersecurity, University of Maryland University College. Sedlack touted the importance of higher education as reliance on information security increases. He warns that understanding of the topic has decreased and cautions against digitally connecting everybody and everything. Sedlack ended by reminding everyone to keep reading and talking to each other.
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PALMETTO CHAPTER - 04/19/2018
Maj. Jeffrey S. Cashion, USA, U.S. Army Central G-35, chapter golf chairman, coordinated an April tournament at Carolina Lakes Golf Course on Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, to raise scholarship funds and to commemorate the retirement of John DeBerry, a notable chapter member. DeBerry, U.S. Air Forces Central Command A-6, chief of plans and requirements, has been a staunch supporter of AFCEA and was the chapter's April luncheon speaker. Eleven four-person teams participated in the tournament, raising more than $1,900 for STEM scholarships. DeBerry, with help from Eric Wilson, golf course manager, gave the golfers their rules of engagement for the shotgun start that morning. The chapter thanks the tournament's corporate sponsors, Salient CRGT, Network Controls and General Dynamics Information Technology.
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PALMETTO CHAPTER - 04/19/2018
Maj. James Crenshaw, deputy air and missile defense chief, U.S. Army Central/G-39 and chapter secretary, attended the University of South Carolina (USC) Spring ROTC Awards Ceremony in April at the Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, South Carolina. He presented three AFCEA scholastic awards during the tri-service ceremony to the following ROTC students: Midshipman Brooks E. McNeal, Cadet Leon E. Davis and Cadet Aditi R. Tailor. All exceeded the scholastic achievements of their peers in their respective STEM disciplines. Some award winners will be entering their particular branch of service this fall. More than 150 cadets and midshipmen received honors from nearly 50 organizations at the USC ceremony.
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PALMETTO CHAPTER - 04/18/2018
The chapter's April luncheon speaker was John DeBerry, U.S. Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT) A-6, chief of plans and requirements. The theme of the talk was "A Lifetime of Lessons Learned." DeBerry directs the establishment and implementation, including planning and engineering of communications and information systems for AFCENT's area of responsibility (AOR). AFCENT develops contingency plans to support air operations for U.S. Central Command's AOR. DeBerry was chosen to be the combatant command J-6 planner to engineer tactical, strategic command and control (C2) systems and services during Operation Uphold Democracy in 1994 and 1995 in Haiti and in Operation Joint Endeavor, a 1995 peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. His expertise in computer network security expedited the response to the 1998 hacking of Defense Department computers, known as Operation Solar Sunrise. He deployed to Eskan Village, Saudi Arabia, for a year as chief of command, control, communications, computers (C4) ... READ MORE
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BELVOIR CHAPTER - 04/13/2018
More than 250 students from various colleges and universities converged on the Woodbridge campus of Northern Virginia Community College for the third annual Innovation Hackathon in April, sponsored in part by the chapter. Students came prepared to lock themselves in for the 36-hour, around-the-clock competition. Challenges were designed to test the skills of those specializing in cybersecurity and secure coding. Event sponsors ranging from small to large business provided the challenges. General Dynamics Information Technology and Rigil Corp., AFCEA corporate members and event sponsors, provided challenges. The chapter, the parent sponsor of the NVCC Student Chapter, was the event's top sponsor. This year, the board conceptualized a challenge-one of the benefits of sponsorship-to address a need for all AFCEA chapters. Students had to create a mobile membership app specific to AFCEA. But before students began their work, they listened to keynote speaker Kenneth Fritzsche of the Offic ... READ MORE
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LEXINGTON-CONCORD CHAPTER - 04/13/2018
1st Lt. Rachele Szall, USAF, presided as master of ceremonies over the chapter's annual ROTC scholarship luncheon in April at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bedford, Massachusetts. This event recognized 21 of the most outstanding ROTC cadets and midshipmen from across the Northeast with $1,000 STEM scholarships. Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, USAF, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington D.C., delivered a motivational keynote address on the challenges of military service and leadership in today's ever-changing global environment. Col. Amanda Kato, USAF, chapter vice president, ROTC affairs, presented $21,000 in scholarships to the award recipients. Gen. Weinstein then joined Col. Kato in presenting the Gen. Bernard Schriever Award to Midshipman Gabrielle Person of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The award carries an additional $1,000 scholarship and is given annually to the most outstanding cadet or midshipman amo ... READ MORE
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MONTGOMERY CHAPTER - 04/13/2018
In April, the chapter's Education Foundation and the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce's TechMGM hosted Camp IT for area 8th-grade students at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama. The students engaged in hands-on demonstrations and breakout sessions and activities on STEM and information technology. Volunteers from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Business and Enterprise Systems (BES) Directorate assisted with and led many sessions providing students real-life applications for their activities. Camp IT also featured keynote speakers from the community and industry. Business, community and civic leaders recognize that for Montgomery to stay on the leading edge of innovation, they need to invest in young people. Having an opportunity to expose middle school-age children to STEM careers and possibilities is just a start. Camp IT also is a great opportunity for students to see how STEM is used in everyday life, academic programs around STEM and how they can bec ... READ MORE
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MONTGOMERY CHAPTER - 04/12/2018
The chapter's Young AFCEANs hosted a Business Over Breakfast seminar in April featuring guest speaker Tom Wojszynski, Southeast regional manager for Google Cloud, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Montgomery, Alabama. Wojszynski discussed machine learning in the Google Cloud with a diverse audience of service members, civilians and industry professionals. He opened by providing a brief overview of his experience in the military and at Google. Wojszynski credits his success in part to his natural curiosity, and Google, he noted, appreciates curiosity as it lends itself to innovation. He discussed how Google uses innovation within the company for improvement. For example, Wojszynski said Google has the best big data processing because its cloud environment enables Google to expose big data platforms to world. This gives businesses the ability to process data in ways they never could before. He went on to discuss how Google is using machine learning in many of its consumer products, such as ... READ MORE
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ABERDEEN CHAPTER - 04/11/2018
At the chapter's April luncheon, Gary Blohm, director of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center's Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD), discussed his vision of turning Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) into a nationally recognized center of cyber excellence. Speaking to a crowd at Top of the Bay on APG, he briefly outlined CERDEC's many priorities, mentioning the desire to apply innovative concepts to an operational context. In his role, Blohm works hard to fight for various programs in the defense budget, but he relies on industry to help articulate the power of cyber and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). Blohm said he hopes to engage the local cyber community to help tell this powerful story to decision makers, demonstrating innovative technology and ideas that align with CERDEC's mission. In highlighting cutting-edge cyber technology and fully engaging i ... READ MORE
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