HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Multiple Air Force Life Cycle Management Center acquisition professionals at locations across the U.S. received award nominations for contributions to information processes and technology.
Teams and individuals within the Digital and Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorates, both headquartered here, were nominated at the AFLCMC level for the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Digital Modernization Award and the International Test and Evaluation Association 2020 Technical Achievement Award.
Hanscom-area Digital nominees included the Air Operations Team, Capt. Javier Colon, and Daniel Ioppolo. First Lt. Dustin Burton, of Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, was also nominated.
For C3I&N, Hanscom nominations included the Grid Interface Team of the Airborne Network Global Information office, the Special Access Program, Cybersecurity and Information Technology team, the Enterprise-IT-as-a-Service Integrated Program Office, and Enterprise Cloud Services. The Personal Identity Verification Migration Team, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, was also nominated.
Several members of Digital received nominations for the ITEA 2020 Technical Achievement Award. Nominees included Brett Cohen, AFLCMC Detachment 12, Kessel Run, Anthony Kubat, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Karynn Sutherlin, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.
As a planning portfolio engineer, Daniel Ioppolo earned his nomination by leading multiple teams in executing critical work for software modernization. As a deployed combat engineer, Ioppolo executed hundreds of missions from the 609th Air Operations Center and was directly responsible for training other engineers.
“Dan has been a shining example of what the future of the Air Force’s Digital Workforce looks like,” said Hannah Hunt, chief of staff, Kessel Run. “Since joining Kessel Run, Dan has led numerous technical efforts that have springboarded the AOC enterprise into a beacon of software development efficacy, which helped to deploy brand-new capabilities into the hands of warfighters.”
The SAP Cybersecurity and IT team earned recognition through their efforts to consolidate hundreds of networks and to deliver Enterprise IT to the SAP community via an “as-a-service” methodology. This effort will save the Air Force millions of dollars in labor and resources each year.
The team also modernized program office capabilities with a 60,000-square-foot renovation, accomplished 9,000 pounds of classified equipment destruction, improved network bandwidth by nearly 1,000 percent, and established new aircrew tools to modernize SAP systems.
“Their efforts to establish new aircrew tools have optimized and consolidated SAP systems in the Air Force,” said Lt. Col. Jack Rhodes, materiel leader, Advanced Technology Branch, SAP. “This contribution will improve training for nearly 3,000 warfighters per year.”
As a technical product manager, Cohen led a team that successfully automated developmental testing using a single, unifying technology, a process that saves time, money, and labor. The automation also prevents critical errors that could negatively affect warfighters.
“Brett and his team continue to demonstrate how testing in the Air Force can evolve to match the speed of new agile development processes,” said Hunt. “His efforts ensure that the systems being built are always safe, reliable, and effective.”
Air Force Materiel Command also recognized Kessel Run contracting officer Melissa Kennedy with a Services Acquisitions award.