December 2020

EXCOM Alley - Lt. Kieran O’Brien

New Horizons Speaker Series – Accelerating Change Hosts Multiple Webinars

Dec 8, 2020, Mr. Anthony P. Reardon, the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., was the featured guest speaker at the chapter's New Horizons distinguished speaker webinar in early December. Reardon, the senior civilian advisor to the Secretary, administers/manages the Office of the Secretary (SAF) and oversees the execution/programming of the AF Headquarters portfolio (annual budget of $5.6 billion and 37,000 personnel). He gave participants an exceptionally informative look into the broad scope of the SAF/AA organization, and discussed other topics including stand-up of the Space Force; the primary focus of the AF Chief's top four priorities; Enterprise IT as a Service; and integration of commercial IT into the DOD and associated challenges. He concluded with a glimpse into the effects of COVID on the National Capital Region noting that a full-scale, secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) paid off allowing folks to work from home.

Nov 16, 2020, Frank Konieczny, Air Force chief technology officer, Office of Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, was the honored guest speaker at the chapter's New Horizons - Accelerating Change distinguished speaker webinar in mid-November, sponsored by Splunk. Konieczny is responsible for advancing the information technology landscape of the Air Force. He provided an insightful talk about how the Air Force has shifted its focus to modernize services (such as Remote Process Automation and spreading LTE 5G to all bases) to assist its workforce to accomplish the mission while, for the most part, working from home during the pandemic. He followed with an informative question and answer period where he touched on additional topics such as data management, mobility enterprise solutions and others.

$18,000 in STEM scholarships Awarded to 9 MCC Students
Lexington-Concord awarded a total of $18,000 in STEM scholarships to nine Middlesex Community College (MCC) students in a virtual ceremony from the school’s Bedford, MA, campus in mid-November. Each of eight students received a $2,000 scholarship with an additional $2,000 awarded to Paula Zaldua who was the recipient of the Thomas O’Mahony “Spirit of Excellence Award.” This special award honors the late Tom O’Mahony, former chapter president; board chairman; retired Senior Executive Service member at Hanscom AFB; and chairman of the MCC Board of Trustees. The other scholarship recipients included: Manneury Arias; Thomas Barry; Shane Bourgeois; Hannah Guillen; Leslie Hernandez; Pichraksmey Hoeu; Malayah Montgomery; and Chanmanith Seng.

$33,000 in ROTC STEM Scholarships Awarded

The chapter recognized 21 of the most outstanding ROTC cadets and midshipmen from across the Northeast with $1,500 scholarships at its annual ROTC scholarship ceremony. The event, sponsored by Collins Aerospace, was held virtually in November. USAF Captain Michael Fan, master of ceremonies, welcomed all and introduced Major General Michael Schmidt, Program Executive Officer, Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, and Networks, Hanscom AFB, who delivered a motivational keynote address on his career experiences and the challenges of military service

Upcoming Events

AFCEA LexCon 2020 Unsung Hero - Coree Chandler - PCI Strategic Management

Coree has been a stalwart volunteer for the AFCEA Lexington-Concord Chapter for many years. Her value to this chapter is immeasurable; her substantive contributions to the success of copious major chapter events over the years unmatched. This past year alone, she absolutely underpinned the successful execution of our largest ever New Horizons Symposium which raised thousands to support STEM Scholarships. She worked tirelessly as the focal point for assembling and standardizing 600 hard copies and CDs of New Horizons material; personally coordinated with all of ‘gold’ symposium sponsors to ensure suitable recognition; and worked tirelessly during the event to make last minute changes “on the fly” to ensure over 600 attendees got the latest updates. Without exaggeration, Coree was absolutely vital to ensuring the success of this year’s event— unequivocally, the chapter’s much treasured Unsung Hero.