JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic's Executive Director Christopher Miller has been chosen for the 2011 class of 40 Under 40, an annual award which honors professional successes and community involvement of 40 people younger than 40 years old who are making their mark on the Charleston's business community.
Mr. Miller and 39 other "rising stars" were highlighted in a recent issue of Charleston Regional Business Journal, which sponsors the award. Mr. Miller was also honored during a special ceremony May 3 at Alhambra Hall.
Mr. Miller is the first SPAWAR employee to be named in 40 Under 40 since CRBJ started presenting the awards in 1998. As the executive director and senior civilian official of SSC Atlantic, Mr. Miller sets command-wide strategic goals and manages engineering and business operations for a workforce of more than 3,500 federal civilian and military employees and more than 9,000 industry partners. With a total obligation authority of more than $5 billion, the center operates from its main campus in Charleston and several offices located in the continental United States and around the world.
Since arriving a little more than a year ago, Mr. Miller has been particularly active in the transformation of SSC Atlantic's organization and culture to meet Navy demands for greater effectiveness and economy. He has implemented a Competency Aligned Organization/Integrated Product Team model across SSC Atlantic. He has been committed to communication - both informing and listening, and believes in the importance of honest and transparent communication.
In addition to his demanding duties as the senior civilian of SSC Atlantic, from October of 2010 until April of this year, Mr. Miller also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for C4I and Space. In that position he was the single Department of the Navy point of contact for military services, DoD staff and agencies, and the Office of Management and Budget for all program and policy matters concerning Space, C4I, Information Operations, and Information Technology.
Mr. Miller was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in May 2006. The average SES age is 53, and at 38 years old, Mr. Miller stands out as one of the youngest of this elite corps of men and women who lead the continuing transformation of government. Before coming to Charleston, Mr. Miller served in San Diego, Calif., as the Navy's Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence and was directly responsible for more than 125 Navy C4I programs, providing the warfighter with integrated communication, information technology and intelligence.
Before beginning his federal civilian service, Mr. Miller served as a U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer from 1995 to 1999, completing a deployment to the Western Pacific and serving as the intelligence Officer for the largest Marine Aircraft Group in the Marine Corps.