AFCEA International Chapter News
MONTGOMERY CHAPTER CHAPTER - May 21, 2019

Revolutionizing the Pursuit of IT

In May, the chapter hosted the 26th annual Montgomery Information Technology Summit (MITS) at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa Convention Center in Montgomery, Alabama. The theme of this year's summit was Revolutionizing the Pursuit of IT. MITS 2019 hosted 840 attendees, and thanks to the generous sponsorship from 46 corporations, the chapter raised nearly $150K to cover event costs and support Education Foundation programs, scholarships and internships. Col. Kyna McCall, USAF, chapter president, opened the conference, followed by a welcome from Todd Strange, mayor, for the city of Montgomery, Alabama, and Chairman Elton Dean, commissioner, Montgomery County. The conference enjoyed an assortment of presentations from many great speakers including Richard Aldridge, program executive officer (PEO), Business and Enterprise Systems (BES), Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, Alabama; Brig. Gen. Michael Schmidt, USAF, PEO, Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence and Networks (C3I&N); Susan Thornton, director, Information Dominance Programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition; Dan Ward, principal systems engineer, The MITRE Corporation; Lauren Knausenberger, Secretary of the Air Force (SAF) chief information officer and director, Cyberspace Innovations; and Jason Knudson, chief of strategy and innovation, Restless Creations. Attendees also heard insights from four panels. The PEO BES Mission Customer panel featured Col. Kyle Reybitz, USAF, deputy PEO BES, as the moderator. The panelists included Andrew Shaffer, Air Force A-4/A-7; Douglas "John" Koski, SAF/Financial Management; and Edward Mills, SAF/Management. The Enterprise IT Progress and Lessons Learned panel included moderator, Col. Robert "Bobby" King, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC)/HNI, Col. William "Bill" Waynick, Air Force Space Command OL AA; Col. Corey Ramsby, commander, 55th Communications Group, 55th Wing, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Chris Owen, AT&T; and Derek Strausbaugh, Microsoft. The third panel focused on the Agile Software Factory. Moderating the panel was Toy Robinson, chief of engineering, AFLCMC/HI. The panelists included Master Sgt. James Crocker, USAF, AFLCMC/HIT, BESPIN; Maj. Maximilian "Max" Reele, USAF, AFLCMC/HIA, BESPIN; Maj. David Rothzeid, USAF, director of acquisition pathways, AFLCMC/HNJ, DIUx; Derek Tracy, federal chief technical officer, Pivotal; and Delali Dzirasa, CEO, Fearless Solutions. The fourth and final panel was the Cloud Migration Lessons, which was moderated by Lt. Col. Theodore "Ted" Erickson, USAF, AFLCMC/HNII. The panelists included Mike Colson, Amazon Web Services; Stacey Waldron, eSA; Rob Gordon, Isobar; and Paul Saladna, NTT DATA. MITS attendees also were invited to the chapter's annual Education Foundation luncheon during which 10 hardworking students from the Montgomery River Region were recognized for their achievements with more than $55,000 in scholarships and internship opportunities with local information technology companies.

Event Photographs:

Col. Kyna McCall, USAF, chapter president (c), thanks Richard Aldridge, program executive officer (PEO), Business and Enterprise Systems (BES), Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, Alabama (l); and Brig. Gen. Michael Schmidt, USAF, PEO, Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence and Networks, for their keynote briefings at the May event.
Col. Kyna McCall, USAF, chapter president (c), thanks Richard Aldridge, program executive officer (PEO), Business and Enterprise Systems (BES), Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, Alabama (l); and Brig. Gen. Michael Schmidt, USAF, PEO, Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence and Networks, for their keynote briefings at the May event.
In May, Toy Robinson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center(AFLCMC)/HI COE, moderates the Agile Software Factory panel with panelists (l-r) Master Sgt. James Crocker, USAF, AFLCMC/HIT, BESPIN; Maj. Maximilian
In May, Toy Robinson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center(AFLCMC)/HI COE, moderates the Agile Software Factory panel with panelists (l-r) Master Sgt. James Crocker, USAF, AFLCMC/HIT, BESPIN; Maj. Maximilian "Max" Reele, USAF, AFLCMC/HIA, BESPIN; Maj. David Rothzeid, USAF, AFLCMC/HNJ, DIUx; Derek Tracy, federal chief technical officer, Pivotal; and Delali Dzirasa, CEO, Fearless Solutions.
Christopher O'Keefe, Restless Creation (l), and Jason Knudson, chief of strategy and innovation, Restless Creation, discuss Bureaucracy in IT at MITS in May.
Christopher O'Keefe, Restless Creation (l), and Jason Knudson, chief of strategy and innovation, Restless Creation, discuss Bureaucracy in IT at MITS in May.

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