Joint Base Charleston, S.C. –
In July, I will celebrate one year as the commanding officer of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic. As a Lowcountry native, it's great to be back home. I began this great Navy journey from my hometown of Walterboro, S.C., some 30 years ago.
When I raised my hand and took the oath back in 1982, I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I'd return to the Lowcountry to lead an amazing organization of more than 12,000 dedicated, great Americans that comprise our civil service workforce, military personnel and industry partners.
SSC Atlantic is a Department of the Navy organization dedicated to making Information Technology count for the warfighter and the nation. Our mission is to rapidly deliver and support solutions that enable information dominance for naval, joint, national and coalition warfighters.
One year later, I am still proud to be a member of this world class team. Here are a few examples of our efforts and the direct support we provide the warfighter:
Data Center Consolidation
SSC Atlantic unveiled a new data center in October 2011 that is playing a key role in consolidating Navy data centers to increase effectiveness and efficiency and reduce costs while still meeting the Navy's security and operational requirements. The 20,220 square-foot facility is located on Joint Base Charleston - Weapons Station. The data center provides the Navy a state-of-the-art platform that gets us another step closer to Information Dominance. The data center allows us to support significantly more work, cheaper, without sacrificing service or capability to the warfighter.
Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected
Our synergy with Joint Base Charleston tenants has helped make SSC Atlantic's Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected and MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle integration effort a huge success. After a full complement of communication, computers, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems is installed in the vehicles, they are shipped from Naval Weapons Station deep water piers or via C-17 to warfighters from all U.S. military services to give them information dominance over their enemies. So far, SSC Atlantic has integrated 30,000 in the MRAP family of vehicles, with military collaborators including the U.S. Transportation Command; 437th Airlift Wing and 315th Airlift Wing; the 841st Transportation Battalion; Army Strategic Logistics Activity Charleston and Coast Guard Sector Charleston.
Veterans Affairs
SSC Atlantic's Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill Long-Term Solution team delivered an automated IT capability to the Department of Veterans Affairs that has assisted more than 726,665 veterans and warfighters in realizing their educational goals and receiving $18.3 billion in education benefits. The Long-Term Solution system has enabled the VA to efficiently process, administer and manage the delivery of educational benefits to service members, veterans and their beneficiaries attending college under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
SSC Atlantic participates in outreach activities designed to inspire, develop and attract the science, technology, engineering and math talent needed to deliver innovative solutions for the nation's current and future challenges, either in or out of the military. SSC Atlantic sponsored a record number of youth teams in FIRST ® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics League competitions this past winter. The energy at these competitions is unbelievable and it is truly inspiring to see the students so excited about science and engineering. SSC Atlantic also participates in shadow days, lunch buddy programs, summer employment programs for youth, tours, lab visits and career day visits to schools.
Cyber Defense Competitions
SSC Atlantic recently supported the 2012 Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which gives teams from universities all over the nation a chance to show their skills in information assurance and cyber security. SSC Atlantic supported 10 regional competitions and one on the national level in which students competed to defend systems and networks. SSC Atlantic's support and related recruiting efforts lead to the collection of more than 300 resumes from some of the best and brightest from these universities, which will help SSC Atlantic continue to grow our engineering expertise to further support the warfighter in cyber.
These are but a few of the examples of the significant projects we have underway in support of the warfighter. As I mentioned earlier, the strength of our organization comes from our talented and dedicated workforce, and I look forward to what we will continue to achieve over the next two years.