Incoming 653 ELSW director coming 'home' Published Aug. 13, 2008 By Chuck Paone 66 ABW Public Affairs HANSCOM AFB, Mass. -- For Ron Mason, who recently was named the incoming director of the 653rd Electronic Systems Wing, returning to Hanscom will provide a multi-part homecoming. It allows him to come back to New England, where he's from, and where most of his family - including his son, daughter, mother and sister - still lives. Coming to the 653rd, in particular, will also bring him in direct contact with a number of programs he's previously managed. The list includes many programs that are still quite vibrant, such as military satellite communications terminals, air traffic control and landing, and information transport systems. Also, as the acting program director for what had been the Networks and Information Integration Program Office, Mr. Mason oversaw what was in many ways an early iteration of the 653 ELSW. And coming back to Hanscom, in general, will reunite Mr. Mason with "so many good friends" at the base where most of his 27-year federal career has been spent. When Mr. Mason takes the helm on Sept. 14, replacing current Wing Director Bruce Hevey, who will retire in the beginning of September, it will mark the 15th new assignment of that career. He became a member of the Senior Executive Service in 2004. "I've had so many great opportunities and gotten to work with so many terrific people," he said. "Now, I'm really looking forward to this new opportunity, to being able to build on what Mr. Hevey and Mr. (Dave) Carstairs (the wing's first director) have begun." As the current director of the 850th Electronic Systems Group, an Electronic Systems Center unit headquartered at Peterson AFB, Colo., Mr. Mason has already been deeply involved in delivering network-centric solutions to warfighting customers, especially U.S. Strategic Command. "The 850th was a pathfinder, providing capabilities to STRATCOM that really jumpstarted the Defense Department's net-centric environment," he said. "We also led the way in reducing delivery cycle times, cutting them from 18 months down to 24 weeks. The concept of r-S (where the small r stands for smaller requirements and the large S stands for enhanced speed) was started in the 850th as we worked to reduce cycle time to meet General Cartwright's high expectations." Mr. Mason said he anticipates continuing on that path, leveraging the lessons his group has learned. "I look forward to doing it on a larger scale, supporting the entire center as it moves to a net-centric environment." He cited the C2 Data Pilot as a specific example of a quick-turn capability that makes data accessible to decision makers when they need it, regardless of where, or from what system, the information originated. "That's the kind of thing we can expand and use across the center," he said. And it's exactly the sort of thing the 653rd is now charged with doing, providing open-architected systems that key not on sophisticated, stand-alone hardware, but on loosely coupled data sharing methods. Mr. Mason credits the "outstanding team" in the 850th for his success there, saying he was "blessed to have them." "They're so incredibly dedicated and determined," he said. "They persevere past so many obstacles." Leading the 850th from the time of its inception as a group provided Mr. Mason opportunities and challenges, he said. "We picked up programs that had previously been in lots of different places, and we were quite geographically dispersed," he said, citing the six different locations where his people operated. "It was nice to be able to establish a unifying vision and to build a unique group culture from out of all of that." Coming into his new assignment, Mr. Mason said he'll carry forward one overarching philosophy, which is to focus on people. "My job is to make sure they can be successful," he said. "I have a very structured mentoring program in place here, and I want to continue that. I want to do everything I can to help people achieve everything they can." He also believes strongly in ensuring people are able to maintain a healthy work-life balance. "We ask a lot of our people, but we owe it to them to make sure they have the time and ability to take care of their family needs, too," he said.