DOD Announces 2011 DOD Chief Information Officer Award Winners

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1027-11 December 15, 2011

DOD Announces 2011 DOD Chief Information Officer Award Winners             Department of Defense announces today the recipients of this year’s DoD Chief Information Officer Awards at a Pentagon ceremony.             This year marked the 11th anniversary of the DoD CIO Award and is the highest honor recognized by the department for achievement in information management and information technology.  More than 70 nominations were submitted worldwide including both civilian government employees and military.             The applicants were evaluated based on their outstanding achievement in one or more of the following eight critical IT areas:  acquisition; architecture and interoperability infrastructure; identity and information assurance and cyber operations; management and standards; synchronized and responsive operations and services; capital planning and optimized information technology investments; information management/technology/assurance workforce; and information sharing and data management.             The award winners were chosen because of their exemplary performance in improving information delivery and dissemination, management capability, cost reduction and savings, a broad user base, process, mission impact, or net-centricity.             Team awards were presented to:             First Place:  Directorate of Communications, Office of the Defense Representative Pakistan/J6, U.S. Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan.             Second Place:  Medical Communications for Combat Medical Care (MC4), U.S. Army, Fort Detrick, Md.             Third Place:  Office of the Chief Information Officer, Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Pentagon Washington, D.C.             Fourth Place:  C4 Systems (J6) Directorate, U.S. Forces Japan, Yokota Air Base, Japan.             Fifth Place:  INSCOM Futures Development Team, U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Va.             Individual awards were presented to:             First Place:  Navy Lt. Hannah L. Bealon, International Security Assistance Force CJ2 Operational Support Element Systems, ISAF Headquarters, Afghanistan.             Second Place:  Army Chief Warrant Officer Joshua L. Parks, 7th Theatre Tactical Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Schweinfurt, Germany / Joint Networks Communications Network Center, Afghanistan.             Third Place:  Air Force Lt. Col. Pamela L. Woolley, Joint Staff OCIO, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.             Fourth Place:  Benjamin Pauwels, White House Communications Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, Washington, D.C.

General Officer Announcements

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1028-11 December 16, 2011

General Officer Announcements             Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta announced today that the President has made the following nominations:             Air Force Col. Jeffrey K. Barnson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the director of strategic plans, requirements and programs, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.             Air Force Col. Abel Barrientes has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the director for operations, Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii.             Air Force Col. Kimberly A. Crider has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the director of communications and information and chief information officer, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.             Air Force Col. Theron G. Davis has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as assistant deputy director for strategic logistics, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.             Air Force Col. Christopher L. Eddy has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the European Command assistant director for intelligence, Stuttgart Air Base, Germany.             Air Force Col. Lyman L. Edwards has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as deputy director for strategy, plans and policy, Headquarters U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.             Air Force Col. John C. Flournoy Jr., has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as commander, 349th Air Mobility Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, Travis Air Force Base, Calif.             Air Force Col. Kathryn J. Johnson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as associate director of logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.             Air Force Col. Kenneth D. Lewis Jr., has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as commander, 433rd Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.             Air Force Col. Stephen J. Linsenmeyer Jr., has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as commander, 910th Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio.             Air Force Col. Vincent M. Mancuso has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the director of operations, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.             Air Force Col. Udo K. McGregor has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as commander, 452nd Air Mobility Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, March Air Reserve Base, Calif.             Air Force Col. Eric S. Overturf has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as commander, 442nd Fighter Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.             Air Force Col. Karen A. Rizzuti has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as vice commander, 10th Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas.             Air Force Col. Vincent M. Saroni has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the Air Force civil engineer, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.             Air Force Col. James P. Scanlan has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the commander, 19th Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

Dempsey Thanks Kuwaiti Leaders for Help in Iraq

By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Dec. 17, 2011 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff took time on a multicountry USO holiday tour this week to thank Kuwaiti officials for that nation's critical help to U.S. Forces Iraq over the past eight years and now, as the mission is ending. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey met Dec. 14 with Emir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber, Prime Minister Jaber al-Mubarak al-Hamad, U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait Matthew H. Tueller, and Dempsey's counterpart Lt. Gen. Ahmed al-Khalid, Kuwait Armed Forces chief of staff. Near the border Kuwait shares with Iraq, at a dwindling number of installations -- such as camps Arifjan and Virginia and the Khabari al Awazem border-crossing facility, called K Crossing � U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force troops have taken in hundreds of convoys and thousands of former U.S. Forces Iraq war fighters, collected and processed their vehicles, weapons and equipment, and helped send them home. The chairman said he thanked "our Kuwaiti partners for helping us accomplish this [U.S. Forces Iraq] retrograde operation, which I've heard [Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta] describe as somewhat historic." Dempsey also asked Kuwait's assistance as Iraq begins the hard task of adjusting to its new sovereignty. "My time in Kuwait would suggest that our Kuwaiti partners are concerned about our work to establish a normal relationship with Iraq because there's still some mistrust between the two countries that goes back certainly to 1990-1991, but historically far back beyond that," the chairman said. "I'm stopping in several of the countries on this trip to assure our other partners that our lack of physical presence in Iraq doesn't mean we're taking our eye off of them as a partner," he added, "or that we're going to stop trying to help [Iraq] develop responsibly." Establishing a U.S. Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, as the United States has in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries, will facilitate U.S. military sales there, the chairman's spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan told American Forces Press Service. "The idea," he added, "is to pull Iraq into the type of normal relationships we have with Kuwait and other countries in the region." Dempsey also seeks to get back to a normal level of military engagement with Kuwait. The nations have been close partners since the 1991 signing of a defense cooperative agreement, Dempsey said, but the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cut into routine U.S.-Kuwait military-to-military training, exercises and security cooperation. Under provisions of the 1991 defense agreement, Dempsey added, "we are taking some of the forces that were in Iraq and repositioning them in Kuwait for a period of time." The hope is, Lapan said, "that we will get to the point where the relationship with Iraq is similar to those we have with Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar -- all the countries in the region where we have strong military-to-military relations." �

Biographies: Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey Related Sites: Special Report: Travels With Dempsey

Who's in The News? General Martin E. Dempsey Chairman JCoS Official Bio

General Martin E. Dempsey  Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

General Martin E. Dempsey  Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff  Download Hi-Res Image General Martin E. Dempsey serves as the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  In this capacity, he serves as the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council.  By law, he is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer.  Prior to becoming Chairman, the general served as the Army’s 37th Chief of Staff.   Past assignments have taken him and his family across the globe during both peace and war from Platoon Leader to Combatant Commander. He is a 1974 graduate of the United States Military Academy and a career armor officer.      As a company grade officer, he served with the 2nd Cavalry in United States Army Europe and with the 10th Cavalry at Fort Carson. Following troop command he earned his Masters of Arts in English from Duke University and was assigned to the English Department at West Point.  In 1991, GEN Dempsey deployed with the Third Armored Division in support of OPERATION DESERT STORM. Following DESERT STORM, he commanded 4th Battalion 67th Armor (Bandits) in Germany for two years and then departed to become Armor Branch Chief in US Army Personnel Command. From 1996-1998 he served as the 67th Colonel of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment. Following this assignment as the Army’s “senior scout” he served on the Joint Staff as an Assistant Deputy Director in J-5 and as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From September 2001 to June 2003, General Dempsey served in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia training and advising the Saudi Arabian National Guard. In June of 2003, General Dempsey took command of the 1stArmored Division in Baghdad, Iraq.  After 14 months in Iraq, General Dempsey redeployed the division to Germany and completed his command tour in July of 2005. He then returned to Iraq for two years in August of 2005 to train and equip the Iraqi Security Forces as Commanding General of MNSTC-I. From August 2007 through October 2008, GEN Dempsey served as the Deputy Commander and then Acting Commander of U.S. Central Command. Before becoming Chief of Staff of the Army, he commanded US Army Training and Doctrine Command from December 2008-March 2011.    General Dempsey’s awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with “V” Device and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Action Badge, and the Parachutist Badge. In addition to his Masters’ Degree in English, he holds Masters’ Degrees in Military Art and in National Security Studies.    General Dempsey and his high school sweetheart Deanie have three children: Chris, Megan, and Caitlin. Each has served in the United States Army. Chris remains on active duty. They have five wonderful grandchildren:  Kayla, Mackenna and Finley by Chris and daughter-in-law Julie, Luke by Caitlin and son-in-law Shane, and Alexander and Hunter by Megan and son-in-law Kory. Caitlin and Shane are expecting their second child next spring.

Dempsey: DOD to Stay Engaged, Vigilant in Middle East

By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Dec. 17, 2011 - It's too soon to calculate how the end of U.S. Forces Iraq will affect the region's military dynamics, but the U.S. focus on the Middle East and its partner countries there is unwavering, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey is traveling with a USO holiday tour and taking time to meet with his counterparts and officials in several countries, including Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. "Right now I think there are concerns, maybe some that would rise to a level of skepticism about the future [in the region]," he told reporters who are traveling with him. "But I think that's why our presence here is so important," the chairman said, "to help ease those concerns and reduce that skepticism." Dempsey added, "We've got to make sure we maintain our vigilance, our deterrence and our engagement in the Middle East." The focus for the Defense Department in 21 countries that make up the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility include Afghanistan, Iran and its nuclear aspirations, and regional instability associated with the Arab Spring, the revolutionary wave of protests and violence that erupted Dec. 18, 2010. The unrest most recently includes a nationwide revolt in Syria, with protesters demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad and the government responding with deadly violence, which according to the United Nations this week has so far taken nearly 5,000 lives. "We're trying to think ahead about what it will mean to the people when the regime in Syria changes, as we think it will," Dempsey said. Related to that, he added, "is the enduring relationship with Turkey and their role. They're a [U.S. European Command] nation from our perspective but they currently have a positive influence in that part of the Arab world." Iran is another critical defense challenge in the region, the chairman said. "Iran continues to be provocative both in terms of its nuclear aspirations but also the activities of the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] Quds Force," which is said to responsible for operations outside Iran, Dempsey said. The most recent manifestation of such provocation, he added, was a plot uncovered in October that involved Iranian officials and Iranian-American used car salesman Mansour J. Arbabsiar's botched attempt to hire assassins to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States. For DOD, the chairman said, the challenge is "Iran's hegemonic aspirations and how we can build a consensus within the region and globally that this is unacceptable, and then [determine] what to do about it." The U.S. presence in the Middle East is an especially important buffer to the challenge with Iran, Dempsey said, adding, "I do believe that what Iran needs to see in this region is a more coherent Arab world, so their aspirations are tempered." But of all the challenges in the region, Afghanistan is a primary focus. "That's No. 1 because we have kids in harm's way," Dempsey said. "That's always going to be job No. 1." The department is working to review its strategy in Afghanistan with Centcom Commander Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, and others, the chairman added. "We know the surge [of combat troops to Afghanistan] will be off-ramped in September 2012," he said. "That's when we're back to the 68,000 [troops] that was kind of the standard at the start. "The question we're grappling with is, given the Lisbon objectives, how do we get from September 2012 to December 2014?" In November 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal, NATO leaders agreed to halt combat operations by international troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the summit of leaders who crafted a transition strategy directing coalition troops to begin this year turning over security responsibility for the nation's provinces to Afghan security forces. "What we aspire to over time is to approach the entire issue of engagement differently," Dempsey said, adding that there are opportunities for the U.S. military services in smaller engagements. "Most countries don't want us to be flopping a brigade combat team in and among their population, so I think we have to find a way to think that through too," the chairman said. "It's really about what we have learned in the last 10 years [of war], and how to establish new relationships not only in [the Middle East], but worldwide." �

Biographies: Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey Related Sites: Special Report: Travels With Dempsey

Buffalo | Grant Street Near Bradley 2 car MVA

Buffalo | Grant Street Near Bradley 2 car MVA
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Dempsey, Saudi Partners Discuss Iraq, Regional Challenges

American Forces Press Service RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 18, 2011 - Hours after the last U.S. Forces Iraq convoy crossed the border into Kuwait on its way home, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sat down for the first time with Saudi officials here to discuss Iraq and other developments in the region. Traveling with a multicountry USO holiday tour to Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and other nations, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey took time today to meet with leaders of one of the United States' long-time partners in the Middle East. "I've been very clear with all of our partners -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and others -- [that] if you're concerned about the future of Iraq, then we should all work together to help ensure that we achieve a brighter future for Iraq," Dempsey told reporters who are traveling with him. "[If Iraq is] left unattended or left to its own devices," he said, then countries that could have helped the newly sovereign nation "shouldn't come back and complain about the outcome." Today Dempsey met with officials from the Saudi Ministry of Defense and the Saudi Arabia National Guard. The chairman, who from 2001 to 2003 served in the kingdom to train and advise the Saudi Arabian National Guard, said he and the Saudi officials spent time renewing their acquaintance. But they also discussed Iraq, Iran's potential influence on Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict, he added, and the growing Saudi investment in the U.S. foreign military sales program. "On the specific issue of Iraq, I'd say [Saudi officials] are probably concerned about the Iranian influence and are eager to know what we intend to do to make sure that influence doesn't permeate Iraq," Dempsey said. "They asked me what I thought it meant [that the U.S. military is out of Iraq] and they offered to tell me what they thought it meant," he said, adding, "I wouldn't describe our discussions at this point as suggesting to each other what we might do." The Arab-Israeli conflict was also on the agenda, the chairman said, a routine topic in meetings with Saudi leaders. "Generally speaking we begin our meetings with a reflection on the fact that from their perspective the key to a lasting settlement in the region is the Arab-Israeli conflict," Dempsey said. The Saudis made no judgments about how the United States is managing the conflict, "but I would describe on the part of both the leaders in the Saudi Arabia National Guard and the Ministry of Defense ... a heightened sense of concern on the basis of what they consider to be two facts," Dempsey said. First, he added, "they are very concerned that our withdrawal from Iraq opens the door for greater Iranian influence, [and] they consider that Iranian influence in Bahrain has a very real chance of destabilizing the region." A positive signal from the Saudis is a rapidly growing investment in the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, he said, with the Saudi Arabia National Guard investment growing four-fold and the Ministry of Defense investment nearly doubling. And the Saudis have established a new facilities-protection program through the program for critical industries such as oil refineries and water and power plants, Dempsey added. With the Saudis, he said, "We used to talk about stuff -- material procurements, bright shiny objects. It wasn't that kind of conversation at all today. It was actually quite substantive; about training and of course geopolitical issues." Dempsey added, "I think they feel like they're in a very good place and ... a strong place in terms of capabilities. "I think they're genuinely interested now in how they can get better at utilizing [equipment they've purchased from the United States], the chairman said, "and I find that to be quite encouraging." �

Biographies: Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey Related Sites: Special Report: Travels With Dempsey