ESC’s 2010 SWO award winners announced

  • Published
  • By Daniel Koble
  • Battle Management Directorate, Mission Planning
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The Electronic Systems Center honored its best for acquisition excellence at the 2010 Shiely, Wright and O'Neill Awards Banquet held on Nov. 10 in front of a full crowd at the Minuteman Club.

Retired Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III was the guest speaker for the banquet and joined Electronic Systems Center Commander, Lt. Gen. Ted Bowlds, in presenting the awards.

The first award presented was the Harold M. Wright Award, which is given annually to two civilian employees within ESC, recognizing them for their outstanding contributions to the center's mission. The award is given in honor of Harold M. Wright, the Electronic Systems Division commander's chief technical adviser from 1969 until his retirement in 1973.

The awards are presented in two categories: GS-13 and below and GS-14 and above. The 2010 winners of the Harold M. Wright Award are Michael G. Therrien of the Cyber/Netcentric Directorate in the GS-14 and above category and Joseph Peloquin of the Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Directorate in the GS-13 and below category.

Mr. Therrien is the chief of the Air Branch at the Airborne Network Division. He turned the Air Force's Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) program -- the centerpiece of future airborne networking capability -- from unexecutable to executable. He developed an agile acquisition strategy to integrate JTRS on 20 different platforms and 2,400 aircraft slashing the original cost estimate by 74 percent.

Mr. Peloquin is the contract execution lead for the Space Fence Branch. His directorate successfully led more than 200 personnel, consisting of government, military and contractors, on a high visibility, $3.5 billion Acquisition Category 1D program.

The next award presented was the Lt. Gen. John W. O'Neill Award, which is given annually to two military officers within ESC and recognizes those officers who made outstanding contributions to the center's mission. The namesake for the trophy, Lt. Gen. John W. O'Neill, served as the Electronic Systems Division commander from July 1964 to July 1967. The awards are presented in two categories: major and below and lieutenant colonel and above.

The 2010 winners of the Lt. Gen. John W. O'Neill Award are Lt. Col. Mark Davis of the Cyber/Netcentric Directorate in the lieutenant colonel and above category and Capt. Wesley Crawley of the Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Directorate in the major and below category.

Colonel Davis is commander of the Nuclear Command and Control Branch, formerly the 639th Electronic Systems Squadron. He restructured a failing program, won support of the three-star general and preserved the presidential link to the nuclear forces, saving more than $300 million. He led and briefed the program status and milestones through the leadership of three program executive officers and six major commands, plus U.S. Strategic Command, the Secretary of the Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Captain Crawley is the International Affairs Iraq program manager. He leads three programs in a war zone to deliver an air defense system that incorporates a country-wide fiber network to support an Iraq Air Operation Center Weapons System and Sector Operations Center. He was the focal point and lead of a geographically dislocated team of 58 members, working four programs valued at approximately $85 million.

The next award presented was the Maj. Gen. Albert R. Shiely Jr. Award for organizational acquisition excellence to the most outstanding major and minor programs at ESC. The award is named for General Shiely who, during his 31-year military career, served the Electronic Systems Division in at least six different positions, including commander. The 2010 winners of the Maj. Gen. Albert R. Shiely, Jr. Award are the Air and Space Operations Center in the major program category and the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node Joint Urgent Operational Need (BACN JUON) in the minor program category.

The Air and Space Operations Center Weapon System program develops, integrates, tests, fields, sustains and modernizes 29 AOCs worldwide. The AOC is the heart of the Theater Air Control System for the U.S. Air Force and is how the Joint Force Air Component commander presents air and space power to combatant commanders in support of military operations worldwide.

The BACN JUON program office rapidly acquires and fields communications relay and interoperability capabilities in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The fielding of this technology enables greater synergy and more effective close air support missions and significantly decreases the workload of pilots trying to maintain situational awareness within the airspace.

Congratulations to the 2010 Shiely, Wright and O'Neill award nominees and winners.