The First Shot edition 7.

October 2021

A Word from our President

To the esteemed members of our Chapter,

What a year and half + it has been for our local community, and all of the communities of which we’re a part. Who would have thought as we left New Horizons 2020 that for many of us, it would be the last time we’d see each other in person for a long while? It’s a strange time, but hopefully some of our traditional organizations, like this great AFCEA Lexington-Concord Chapter, can help to bridge the gap and keep us connected when the universe has other ideas. 

I’m honored to be the president of the Chapter this year. I’ve been a part of the Hanscom AFB community for almost 26 years in some form or fashion—starting out as a 2Lt in AVJ (now HBU/Force Protection) under Tom O’Mahony’s two-letter leadership, then becoming an A&AS support contractor years later, then managing some of the IT support contracts on Base, and now as a local rep for Lockheed Martin—and I’ve always been impressed by this Chapter and the stewardship of Claire Goulet.  I am one of a long line of presidents who owe the successes of the Chapter to her and our dedicated group of volunteers who do the hard work of setting up and running events, reporting on our activities,  keeping track of our efforts, and celebrating with, and as a result of, the efforts of many of you.   As a 2Lt, I remember Claire handing me an AFCEA brochure and inviting me along for the journey to this point.  I’m grateful to be able to serve in this capacity, and all of you, this year.

The list of our volunteers is long, but for this initial e-mail, I want to also thank two people who have held key positions for many years:  Joyce Sidopolous, our Secretary, who works for MassRobotics, and Matt Kasberg, our Treasurer, who works for Odyssey Systems.  Your work and support has been exceptional, largely unseen, but extremely important to our ability to serve.  We could not do this work without your dedication to making sure it’s done the right way.  Thank you.

I also want to thank Kevan Kivlan, who handed me the reigns a short time ago.  Kevan, you kept this plane flying through turbulent and sunny skies.  No one can really understand all that you put into this Chapter except you and your family, but the time, energy, and effort you gave to keep us traveling the blue skies made a huge difference.  I can safely say this Chapter would not be operating without you.

My goals this year are simple:  Support community, in the broader sense of the word—supporting fellowship with each other and our dedication to a common cause, to the process of coming out of the other side of our disaggregation and joining together again; continue the great events, programs, and donations that your support allows;  and ensure the future of the chapter by engaging with and asking all of you to volunteer and be a part of the team, in any capacity that works for you.  A couple of areas that we could use help right now:  Publicity, which consists to a great extent of writing up the great deeds of our crew, and webmaster, which consists of helping us to improve our online presence.  If either of these are of interest, or if you have other areas that you’d like to support, we’d love to talk.

Here’s to each of you, to the great work you do to make this world a better place, and to a time when we can celebrate together again. Thank you for being a part of the Chapter.

You can reach me at any time at Jamie.Thurber@lmco.com.


Fall Golf Tournament Supports STEM Scholarships

Two flights of golfers from government and industry joined a shotgun scramble in September at the Atkinson Country Club in New Hampshire to benefit the chapter’s education fund. Jamie Thurber, incoming chapter president, welcomed guests to the post tournament luncheon and thanked the many industry sponsors for their invaluable support of the event which raised thousands to support the chapter’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scholarships. Golf committee co-chairs, Troy Blanchard, Google Cloud, and Ned Clay, Forcepoint, awarded prizes to individual winners (closest to pin, straightest drive, etc.) and trophies to Flight 1 and 2 winners. They concluded by thanking their many golf committee volunteers and paid special tribute to Jeff Katz, the chapter’s perennial overall golf committee chair for his many years of faithful service organizing and directing every spring and fall tournament for the past several years.

Lexington-Concord – (l-r) 1st flight, 1st place winners and also winners of the “mentorship flight” Glen Townsend, Andy Giaconia, Captain Ben Persian, and (USAF) Major General Michael Schmidt, Program Executive Officer, Command, Control, Communicati…

Lexington-Concord – (l-r) 1st flight, 1st place winners and also winners of the “mentorship flight” Glen Townsend, Andy Giaconia, Captain Ben Persian, and (USAF) Major General Michael Schmidt, Program Executive Officer, Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks (C3I&N) are all smiles after winning this year’s revived Fall Golf Classic (last year’s cancelled due to COVID).  

Lexington-Concord – (l-r) 2nd flight, 1st place winners Paul O'Connor, Larry Coe, Adam Colangelo, and Chris Hitchcock pose for a group photo at the chapter’s Fall Golf Classic held in September at the Atkinson Country Club, in New Hampshire

Lexington-Concord – (l-r) 2nd flight, 1st place winners Paul O'Connor, Larry Coe, Adam Colangelo, and Chris Hitchcock pose for a group photo at the chapter’s Fall Golf Classic held in September at the Atkinson Country Club, in New Hampshire


Young AFCEAN Emerging Leaders Go the Distance for STEM

The chapter’s Emerging Leaders led by co-directors William Keller, Evan Gaj and Mariah Marquis sponsored its annual 5K Run for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in September at the Minute Man National Historical Park in Lexington, Massachusetts.  The majority of almost 150 runners participated this year “in person” while a small group joined virtually. The race benefitted the chapter’s Education Fund to the tune of $11,000 which will go to support STEM scholarships. Top finishers received trophies and raffle prizes were gifted to several during the post-race celebration. Overall winner (and also co-race director) Evan Gaj led the men with a time of 18:39; while Kaavya Chaparala led the women with a time of 23:06.  Age group (30-49) winners included Andrew Beckman and Rhonda Needham; while Mike Dimauro and Gena Trant won the 50+ category. The Air Force Detachment 340 Team took the top prize in the team category.

Lexington-Concord – Runners join in a group photo at the Young AFCEAN Emerging Leaders annual 5K Race for STEM held in September. 

Lexington-Concord – Runners join in a group photo at the Young AFCEAN Emerging Leaders annual 5K Race for STEM held in September. 

Lexington-Concord – (l to r) 5K Run for STEM overall winner, Evan Gaj, who also helped organize the race, receives first place trophy from co-director Will Keller (r) during the post-race festivities.

Lexington-Concord – (l to r) 5K Run for STEM overall winner, Evan Gaj, who also helped organize the race, receives first place trophy from co-director Will Keller (r) during the post-race festivities.

Lexington-Concord – (Far right) Mark Maybury (former Chief Scientist of the Air Force; now with Stanley Black & Decker) enjoys a chat with a group of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) AF ROTC cadets prior to the start of this year’s in-perso…

Lexington-Concord – (Far right) Mark Maybury (former Chief Scientist of the Air Force; now with Stanley Black & Decker) enjoys a chat with a group of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) AF ROTC cadets prior to the start of this year’s in-person 5K Run for STEM.


Upcoming Events

MsBaldwin.jpe

AFCEA Lexington-Concord Speaker Series Webinar

Ms. Kristen Baldwin, U.S. Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary (Science, Technology and Engineering)

28 Oct 2021 from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Join us for this free webinar!

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