2007 SWO awards recognize acquisition excellence Published Nov. 5, 2007 By Kevin Gilmartin 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AFB, Mass. -- Electronic Systems Center honored its best of the best for acquisition excellence Nov. 1 at a packed Hanscom Minuteman Club during the 2007 Shiely, Wright and O'Neill Awards Banquet. Retired Air Force Gen. Lester Lyles, the former commander of Air Force Materiel Command, was the guest speaker for the banquet, and joined Electronic Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Chuck Johnson in presenting the awards. The Harold M. Wright Award is given once a year to two civilian employees within ESC, recognizing them for outstanding contributions to the center's mission. The award is in honor of Harold M. Wright, the then-Electronic Systems Division commander's chief technical adviser from 1969 until his retirement in 1973. The 2007 winners of the Harold M. Wright Award are: Cary Stokes of the 551st Electronic Systems Wing in the GS-14 and above category, and Laura Ervin-Cook of the 551st ELSW in the GS-13 and below category. Both categories include nominees in the equivalent National Security Personnel System pay bands. Cary P. Stokes, YC-02, 551 ELSW Mr. Stokes is the division chief for Systems Engineering, Integration and Test for the Mission Planning Program. Mr. Stokes' leadership skills guided the fielding of new precision strike planning and airdrop capabilities, enabling unprecedented accuracy. He played a key role in creating an F-15 planning environment supporting Small Diameter Bomb employment, putting a B-1B in-flight re-planner in the cockpit, and answering an Army urgent operational need for a strategic airdrop issue. Laura A. Ervin-Cook, GS-12, 551 ELSW Ms. Ervin-Cook is the E-8C Communications and Networking program manager for the Joint STARS Program. She was chosen to champion two warfighter urgent operational needs. Ms. Ervin-Cook maintained direct control of programs valued at over $350 million. Through the UON initiatives, she led the effort to provide a capability to prosecute threats on the ground and to ensure the Joint STARS fleet had real-time communications, providing situational awareness to ground troops and key decision-makers. The John W. O'Neill Award is given once a year to two military officers within ESC, and recognizes those officers who made outstanding contributions to the center's mission. The namesake for this trophy, Lt. Gen. John W. O'Neill, served as ESD commander from July 1964 to July 1967. The 2007 winners of the John W. O'Neill Award are Lt. Col. Michael Canavan of the 551st ELSW in the lieutenant colonel and above category, and Maj. Robert E. Allard of the 350th ELSW in the major and below category. Lt. Col. Michael F. Canavan, 551 ELSW Colonel Canavan is commander of the 636th Electronic Systems Squadron. He led a 50-member squadron and 500-member combined government and contractor team fielding a $2.2 billion head-to-toe modernization of the E-3 weapon system. Colonel Canavan personally secured concurrence from the highest levels of the Air Force and DoD on significant "lean" redesigns, saving $1 billion. He saved $16 million by moving to a joint operator simulation environment, resulting in 63 percent reduction in required flight tests. Maj. Robert E. Allard, 350 ELSW Major Allard is the Combatant Commanders Integrated Command and Control program manager for the Global Command and Control Systems Program in the 350th Electronic Systems Wing. He led a $150 million missile warning upgrade for Cheyenne Mountain, four months ahead of schedule and $10 million under cost. He resolved a $13 million U.S. Strategic Command Strategic Threat Assessment Reporting System program disconnect, turning the program around, avoiding a nine-month schedule delay, and saving the organization $3.5 million per year. Additionally, Major Allard redesigned a nuclear command and control messaging system. His timely intervention got the project back on track and protected a vital operational capability. The Major General Albert R. Shiely Jr. Award is presented for organizational acquisition excellence to the most outstanding Major and Minor ESC program offices. The award recognizes the vital role played and superior execution demonstrated by these programs. The 2007 winners of the Major General Albert R. Shiely Jr. Award are the Air Force Distributed Common Ground Station program of the 350th ELSW in the major program category, and the Joint STARS Modernization program of the 551st ELSW in the minor program category. Air Force Distributed Common Ground System Program, 350 ELSW The DCGS program delivered war-winning capabilities to a network of worldwide, globally integrated ground stations that provide net-centric intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the Joint force. This team spearheaded the effort to modernize the DCGS Integration Backbone, overcame multiple hurdles, and showcased its efforts in the successful demonstration of the DIB at a multi-National ISR exercise while rapidly deploying its software to ten worldwide sites. Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Modernization, 551 ELSW The Joint STARS program provided rapid fire acquisition support to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Pacific Air Forces. The Joint STARS team quickly fielded a Blue and Red-Force tracking upgrade to the Army in OIF, preventing mission blackout and reducing the chance of fratricide. The team completed a satellite communications improvement that increased quantity and speed of hostile target engagement, and swiftly contracted for a tool to find and engage maritime surface targets. During the banquet, General Johnson also announced a new honor, the ESC Stars and Stripes Leadership Award that recognizes both an officer and enlisted leader for their outstanding leadership combined with excellence in their job and support of the local community. He presented the first Stars and Stripes Leadership Awards to Master Sgt. Cindy Woodruff of the ESC Judge Advocate office and Maj. Justin Collins of the 554th Electronic Systems Wing.