Chapter News

The chapter is proud to share the significant accomplishments of its Emerging Leaders group, led by Emerging Leaders President Carlos Embury. At this year's WEST Conference, the chapter won "Model Chapter" for Emerging Leaders and two of the chapter's own Emerging Leaders won Outstanding Emerging Leader for 2024. It was a chapter sweep! The chapter's Emerging Leaders have grown by 35 members since the start of the year and Carlos Embury taking on his position as president of the chapter's Emerging Leaders.

In March, in conjunction with several Central Virginia area AFCEA chapters, the chapter hosted its annual Code-a-Thon event for the third year in a row! The virtual Code-a-Thon blasted off to nine Virginia-based elementary schools. The fictional Virginia AFCEA Space Alliance, or VASA, once again traveled to Planet X for a thrilling adventure called "Grow the Planet." The goal of this event was to encourage the development of coding, promote interest in science, technology, engineering and math, and raise cyber awareness for the participating elementary schools. This is the only virtual code-a-thon event that connects public schools, Department of Defense Education Activity grant schools and Department of Defense schools in the region. The volunteers supporting the event also were rewarded as they experienced the thrill of making a difference in the young lives of the participants. As some of the teachers have noted, "It is amazing to watch students' excitement around coding and STEAM grow throughout the day." Two VIP Guest Speakers joined on Friday: Jennifer Swanson, Senior Executive Service, deputy assistant secretary of the Army (Data, Engineering and Software), and Morgan Irons, founder and chief science officer at Deep Space Ecology.

In February, the chapter hosted Aric Sherwood, director, Acquisition Innovation Directorate, Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS). The hour and a half-long presentation was an informative session where industry and other government leaders learned about the Army's agile journey, contracting, testing, SBIRs, maintaining acquisition rigor and industry collaboration. The event also hosted several other government leaders, like Matt Gohil, chief information officer at PEO Soldier, who quoted that Sherwood's presentation had "insights on how the Army continues to drive agile across the acquisition community" and that he was "looking forward to further engagements with PEO-EIS." This was a popular event and the chapter appreciates the continued partnership with PEO-EIS.

In February, the chapter's Emerging Leaders hosted their second Roundtable. This event was a conversation with Kaitlin Bulavinetz, associate director, science & technology (S&T) analysis & policy integration within the Office of Strategic Intelligence & Analysis and senior advisor to the principal director for advanced computing and software, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) in Defense S&T Innovation and Policy Integration. This was an insightful evening where the group discussed the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in the ever-evolving world of information technology.

In October, the chapter, in partnership with Federal Training Partners, hosted the sold-out, all-day ITES-4S Symposium at the Fort Belvoir Officers Club. This symposium brought together industry and government leaders alike to allow the opportunity to engage with one another and shape conversations that will drive the future of Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-4 Services (ITES-4S). With more than 270 attendees, the ITES-4S Symposium was well-attended and included a panel of industry experts as well as three keynotes from Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) and the Army Office of Small Business leaders.

In June, the chapter hosted a sold-out event with over 100 attendees from the Fort Belvoir community who came to hear from Bill Hepworth, the new deputy program executive officer, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS). The event highlighted contract strategies, organizational and culture changes as well how industry can accelerate (or slow down) the PEO-EIS journey. Hepworth shared his experiences from the Army and working in industry as well as his observations and focus areas.

Jim Evans, chapter president, expressed his appreciation to Hepworth and the PEO-EIS organization for partnering so closely with the chapter to make this event possible.

The event hosted not only several key stakeholders from PEO-EIS but also Tina Jordan, vice president of membership from AFCEA International, and the chapter's scholarship awardees, students, families, and membership sponsors.

The chapter hosted the annual Educational Scholarship Awards in June. During the event, the chapter recognized and awarded over 150 scholarship recipients local to the Virginia/Washington, D.C. metro area. The awards included STEAM scholarships as well as the Kevin Carroll Scholarship for Excellence. Over $145,000 in scholarships were awarded on this day to local high school seniors and undergraduate students.

Most notably, the esteemed Kevin Carroll Scholarship for Excellence was awarded to Melina K. Chapula Gutierrez. Kevin Carroll was a dedicated public servant, exceptional leader, mentor and role model to many throughout his career. He was dedicated to his family, friends, colleagues and especially the American warfighter. The chapter is proud to be able to honor Carroll's memory and congratulate Chapula Gutierrez who is an active member of the Air Force and pursuing her degree at Cornell University.

A jovial event with members from government and industry came together to congratulate all the chapter's scholarship recipients. Chapter President Jim Evans and Regional Vice President Alvie Johnson spoke. Bill Hepworth, deputy program executive officer, also presented.

Congratulations to all scholarship recipients!

In December of 2022, two chapters from AFCEA, Belvoir and Rockbridge Shenandoah, hosted a virtual hackathon in six Virginia elementary schools. This was the second occurrence of a hackathon for fifth-grade elementary students held in what is envisioned as an ongoing annual event. The event is designed to promote cyber education and awareness, introduce the participating students and teachers to coding and spark interest in future hackathons, coding and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities.

The first year of the hackathon was held with only Belvoir Elementary School, a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grant school and reached 150 students and a handful of teachers. In 2022, participation in the hackathon included 400 students and over 30 faculty and educators. The hackathon included not only Belvoir Elementary School but also Quantico's Crossroads Elementary School-a Department of Defense (DoD) school-and four public schools in Rockbridge County, Virginia: Central, Fairfield, Natural Bridge and Mountain View Elementary Schools.

This is a truly unique event since it is the only known hackathon for fifth graders that has participants from public schools, DoDEA grant schools and DoD schools all working simultaneously on virtual challenges.

With increasing cyber attacks targeting the country every day and ever-growing needs for cybersecurity professionals, this outreach introduces early educational experience with hands-on coding and engineered systems to fifth graders. On a broader scale, it increases integrative STEM (I-STEM) awareness among students, teachers, industry and other professionals, as it "seeds interest" in coding for all.

The hackathon is based on a fictional, space-based mission scenario, 'Engineer the Planet,' in which the students and their teachers are invited to join the Belvoir AFCEA Space Alliance coders and become part of an ongoing mission to Planet X. As the action unfolds, several challenges emerge and require the students to develop solutions using coding and engineering concepts to build an off-world basecamp. Along the way, the students receive assistance and encouragement from several VIP speakers and are asked STEAM-related trivia questions.

On a technical level, participants use handheld 'micro:bit' microcomputers to solve basic coding challenges. The students receive virtual guidance from AFCEA's experts in the field, along with AFCEA's Emerging Leaders, military academy cadets and academia-all playing roles in the 'ground support team.'

The VIP speakers are all nationally recognized leaders in their field, including: Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of the Department of Defense for Research and Engineering; Morgan Irons, an astro-ecologist and soil scientist; Stu Pettis, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and director of STEM and Education programs for the Air and Space Forces Association; and Bob Osmond, chief information officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Future missions are already being planned. For those who may be interested in participating, several opportunities exist for local AFCEA chapters and their sponsored elementary schools on future missions. Please contact Jeff Thompson, president, Rockbridge Shenandoah Chapter, jeff.thompson@att.com, or Angela Mastellone, vice president, Belvoir Chapter Publicity, angela.mastellone@insightglobal.com. Details and photos of this year's event are available on the Rockbridge Shenandoah and Belvoir websites.

The chapter is preparing for AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days, taking place on November 7-9, 2022. All sessions will be in-person at the Westfields Marriott, Chantilly, Virginia.

This year's theme, "Zeroing In on Cloud, Data, and the Unified Network," highlights the ongoing need to align evolving technology and strategy to meet the needs of the U.S. Army and Department of Defense.

The agenda features updates from Program Executive Offices across Fort Belvoir, guest keynotes, Industry Innovation sessions and networking opportunities to connect with colleagues. Exhibits and interactive displays allow industry representatives and Fort Belvoir program personnel to share information, updated requirements and capabilities. The chapter welcomes members, nonmembers, government, academia, students and industry members to join Industry Days 2022.

Registration is now open. https://www.fbcinc.com/e/AFCEABelvoir

Before the local schools started their long holiday break, fifth-grade students from Fort Belvoir Elementary School had two days of unique learning that took them to the ends of the Earth.

In the Escape the Planet Coding Challenge, students and volunteers from the Belvoir AFCEA Space Alliance (BASA) completed a fictional mission to Planet X. Throughout the mission, students learned computer coding, created a small computer called a micro:bit, created circuits and graphics and then added sound.

The journey to get to the event took over a year of planning. The initial concept was to sponsor a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school-based hackathon, hosted virtually by AFCEA, to allow DoDEA schools worldwide to participate alongside local public schools in various coding challenges. There was unanimous interest, and preparations for the hackathon got underway. Then, the global pandemic hit. As the response to COVID-19 defined a new normal for society, the Virtual Hackathon Invitational Committee launched regular planning sessions to develop a small-scale pilot to demonstrate a local proof of concept. The committee invited Nancy Rowland and Kara Fahy from Fairfax County Schools to join the team. Together, the committee developed a hackathon that supported the school's current coding curriculum while providing fifth-grade level students an opportunity to participate in a series of (fun!) coding challenges.

Over 150 students across seven classrooms participated in the challenge. Jim Evans, chapter president, said the collaborative effort, all possible through volunteers, showed the students' enthusiasm for learning. "In some tasks, the students had a 10-minute deadline; however, they were already so smart and knew to work together, enough for them to complete it in three minutes," Evans said. One student, 10-year-old Grace Levin, said proudly, "It was really fun, and I learned to make a circuit!"

A diverse cast with unique STEAM careers was chosen to play key parts in the scripted event. Lt. Ryan Quarry, USCG, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Cyber Department, served as the BASA coding commander. The BASA director, played by Thomas Perry, AFCEA board member and president of VGSystems, presented the coding challenges and kept the students mission-focused. Eleanor Sigrest served as the Indigo Mission commander. A model for all things #STEM and #STEAM, Eleanor is a freshman at Stanford University, a Davidson Fellow recipient and national winner of the first American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)-sponsored payload competition for experiments to go into space in partnership with space company Blue Origin. Wrapping the event with a mission out-brief and awards ceremony was special mission guest Lisa Young, supervisory objects conservator lead at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

"We are absolutely impressed by the fifth-graders," Evans said and added that AFCEA would like to offer similar STEAM events in the future.

The chapter hosted its annual Industry Days event at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, November 3-5, 2021. The theme of this year's event was Data: The Ammunition of Digital Modernization. This year's hybrid event allowed simultaneous in-person and remote viewing. More than 900 participating attendees would agree that the event was a huge success!

"This event brings together the contracting community and the government customer, so they can hear directly from one another," noted Jim Evans, chapter president.

"It's very important for government and industry to understand current and future needs to work together on solutions that benefit our warfighters," added Bill Jones, past chapter president.

A roster of more than 85 speakers provided briefings and panel discussions covering program updates, contracting opportunities, evolving requirements and program-specific challenges. Joining the agenda this year were Rich Aldridge, program executive officer (PEO) for the Business and Enterprise Systems Directorate; Ross Guckert, PEO for Enterprise Information Systems; Les Hubbard, PEO for Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions; and Adarryl Roberts, PEO for the Defense Logistics Agency.

Distinguished keynote speakers and special guests also included Lt. Gen. John Morrison Jr., USA, deputy chief of staff, G-6; Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, USA, assistant to the director, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA); Raj Iyer, chief information officer (CIO) in the Office of the Secretary of the Army; and Lt. Gen. Michael S. Groen, USMC, director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC).

"We appreciate all of our presenters and sincerely thank them for taking time to brief our community. The importance of this event goes beyond information sharing. One of our core goals is to support education within our service community. To that end, proceeds from AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days funds our STEM scholarship program. Since 2005, the AFCEA Belvoir Scholarship program has awarded over $1,200,000 to deserving students and schools in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area," Evans proudly said. "The success of our STEM scholarship program is a great source of pride for our chapter and its members."

Corporate sponsors and exhibitors brought the 'wow' factor. More than 90 companies set up exhibits in the exhibit hall and online. World Wide Technology, Wildflower, Iron Bow, AT&T, HPE, IDTech, Affigent, Verizon, Sail Point, Palo Alto, Software AG, Sealing Tech, Crowdstrike, Avaya, Forward Networks, GDIT, Rubrik, Presidio, GovPlace, Intelligent Waves, DRS, Accenture, NTT Data, Carahsoft and many more were on hand demonstrating the latest technologies to support U.S. Army programs and missions.

Fort Belvoir is home to more than 90 diverse tenant and satellite organizations. It provides services to over 215,000 military and civilian retirees and families. Each year, PEOs from across Fort Belvoir convene at AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days to brief the industry contracting community on program updates, new or evolving contracting opportunities, and current and future requirements and challenges.

The chapter is excited to announce its inaugural Escape the Planet hackathon event. Developed in conjunction with the AFCEA Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) Student Chapter, AFCEA International, representatives from military academies and Fairfax County Public School faculty and high school students, Escape the Planet is a series of basic coding challenges built around a space exploration mission storyline. The challenge engages middle school students to assist the fictional Belvoir AFCEA Space Alliance (BASA) on their mission of discovery to Planet X to bring back recently detected evidence of "proof-of-life."

This pilot effort is scheduled for December 16 - 17 and will support ongoing coding curriculum being taught at each of the competing schools with the hope of seeding future interest and participation in Science Technology Engineering Arts & Math (STEAM) events. As part of the ongoing mission of the chapter, grants are being offered to each of the competing schools to help further their STEAM curriculums.

Upon receipt of their BASA support mission, students from Belvoir Upper School and Walt Whitman Middle School will form Mission Specialist teams. Each Mission Specialist team will have a Ground Support Team comprised of AFCEA NVCC students, AFCEA Emerging Leaders, U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets and members of high school cyber clubs. 

The chapter is honored to announce the first annual Kevin Carroll Scholarship for Excellence. The Kevin Carroll Scholarship for Excellence is the most prestigious scholarship offered by the chapter's Education Program. Kevin's legacy of service, leadership, mentoring and empowering others lives in this scholarship.

Kevin spent his life serving and supporting others. He was dedicated to his family, friends, colleagues and especially the American warfighter. He spent the majority of his adult life serving the people. He began his career serving as an enlisted soldier in the U.S. Army and attending college. Kevin's civilian career began in the U.S. Coast Guard as a contract specialist. He eventually moved back to the Army, rose through the ranks and ultimately retired from the Senior Executive Service, where he led the Army's Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems.

Education was one of the pillars of Kevin's success. He obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park, where he was a proud Terrapin and supported his alma mater. Kevin ensured that all of his employees had the opportunity to further their education throughout their careers. The chapter and its education program were important to him because of the opportunities presented to others. The program became part of the reason he supported and always drove participation in the chapter's largest fundraising event-AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days.

The chapter annually awards scholarships to qualified students pursuing degrees in the STEM fields and those supportive of national security. Since 2005, the AFCEA Belvoir Scholarship program has awarded over $1,200,000 to deserving students and schools in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Proceeds from all chapter events and sponsorships go directly to our scholarship, community and grant programs.

Information, eligibility and submission instructions can be found here: https://belvoir.afceachapters.org/kevin-carroll-scholarship-excellence

Gina Lewis, chapter vice president for education, presented teachers $25 gift cards, totaling $3,050, as part of the chapter's continued partnership with Fort Belvoir Elementary and Upper Schools. The combined campus educates children from pre-K through the sixth grade and has a robust STEAM program. In STEAM education, students combine science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics to learn, explore and solve problems in new ways. Why the A? STEAM includes the "A" for arts practices and principles. STEAM takes STEM to the next level by emphasizing innovation, design and aesthetics. The chapter has supported Fort Belvoir Elementary Campus, which includes both schools, for over 10 years with teacher grants, science grants, a storage unit and a room dedicated to STEM activities.

In an era where ultra-connectedness is leading to real virtual fatigue, the chapter's Emerging Leaders (ELs) and their Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) counterparts, are creatively connecting to others and conquering some of the COVID-19 confines.

AFCEA has a networking soul, which the chapter ELs and NVCC view as a perfect conduit for world-wide connectedness like never before. The members are targeting April 2022 as a historic benchmark where AFCEA chapters around the world will band together for its First Annual Global Hack-A-Thon.

In the interim, these young leaders are busy creating, hosting and curating sessions for a Hack My... series. With AFCEA's strong suit of networking as the backdrop, the Hack My... series offers practical, insightful sessions on working within the information technology (IT) industry. Topics span everything from Hack My Interview, Hack My Resume, Hack My Internship, Hack My Job, Hack My Security Clearance and more.

Hack My Colleagues took place in February as the inaugural session, sponsored by VG Systems. AFCEA-member NVCC students Daniel Embry, Muhammad Janjua and Nikolett Laszlo, led a well-rounded panel that proffered three unique perspectives to their peers. Each student panelist expounded on the power of AFCEA networking and its essential role in helping them as they embarked upon their first entry-level positions within the IT industry. The hour-long session boasted 32 attendees, excellent follow-up questions, some new AFCEA recruits, and an indication of the hunger for more. The next Hack My... session is slated for April 16th.

January's guest speaker Col. Chad Harris, USA, project manager Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO), packed the house with over 250 industry partners. In a panel discussion with Bonnie Evangelista of Army Contracting Command, Rock Island (ACC-RI), and Ed Sealing of Sealing Technologies, the team successfully demonstrated the process of how an industry partner was able to collaborate, integrate and ultimately be selected for one of DCO's most successful rapid prototyping other transaction authority agreements: the Deployable Defensive Cyberspace Operations-Modular.

The chapter kicked off the season with the annual update from Chérie Smith, program executive officer for enterprise information systems (PEO EIS). In her overview, Smith addressed changes to the organizational structure and highlighted the new leadership teams at Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program, General Fund Enterprise Business System, Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems, Defensive Cyber Operations and Enterprise Services. PEO EIS is responsible for managing and providing the information technology network and business systems that soldiers and the U.S. Army need to operate every day. Smith laid out her priorities for the year ahead to meet this mission: talent management, stakeholder management, enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration and network integration. She stressed the importance of building and maintaining relationships while having the right people in the right place at the right time. Smith also shared her view on the game changers, challenges, behaviors she seeks from industry and future opportunities on the horizon.
Find her briefing slides at https://belvoir.afceachapters.org/sites/default/files/files/AFCEA%20Kick-Off%20Luncheon%2025%20SEPT%202019%20PEO%20EIS.pdf

In May, the chapter hosted its Fifth Annual Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) IT Acquisition Small Business (SB) Networking Event. The sold-out event featured Chris Hall, deputy director, DLA Office of SB Programs; Michael Yacobacci, division chief, IT Services, DLA Contracting Services Office-Philadelphia (DCSO-P); and John Fafara, division chief, Strategic Programs, DCSO-P. Hall discussed DLA's mission to manage the end-to-end global supply chain to sustain warfighter readiness. Employing more than 27,000 people, DLA had revenues in fiscal year 2018 of $39 billion. DLA manages more than $150 billion in active contracts, holds responsibility for nearly 98 percent of military service consumables and buys from more than 12,000 suppliers. In FY 2018, DLA awarded more than $15 billion in contracts to small businesses. Yacobacci and Fafara discussed the DLA J-6 Enterprise Technology Services (JETS) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, which recently surpassed the $1 billion mark with more than 178 requirements awarded-the majority going to small businesses. They also provided updates on future enhancements to the IDIQ contract. The IDIQ vehicle is now open to use by all Defense Department Agencies. The speakers also detailed the benefits of the DLA JETS IDIQ, which include a minimal fee, decentralized ordering, an expedited acquisition process and a JETS website containing ordering procedures and acquisition templates to further streamline the process. Slides from the event can be found at the chapter website:

https://belvoir.afceachapters.org/past-events

In March, the chapter hosted Stephanie Shutt, director of the General Service Administration's (GSA's) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program Management Office (PMO), to discuss upcoming changes to GSA's MAS program. Shutt has supported the MAS program for nearly 15 years and currently oversees the agency's $30 billion schedule program, which consists of 24 schedules offering almost every commercial product and service available to agencies government-wide. As PMO director, Shutt provides strategic guidance and direction, ensuring the program continually addresses evolving market forces to provide the federal government with streamlined, value-based contracting solutions. Shutt detailed the two-year, three-phased approach to schedule consolidation and answered questions from AFCEA members on what schedule holders should expect in the coming years. Affected schedules include GSA's IT schedule 70, professional services schedule (PSS), travel schedule and document schedule, plus 20 others. GSA government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs), such as 8(a) STARS II, Alliant 2, Alliant 2 Small Business, and the VETS 2 GWAC, are not impacted by the consolidation effort. GSA MAS holders with questions on the consolidation are encouraged to contact Shutt's office via email at maspmo@gsa.gov. Article and photo credit: Eric Strauss.

Creating Innovative IT Acquisition Solutions... Defending Tomorrow, Today

The chapter supports the Fort Belvoir, Virginia community, by connecting the government with IT industry professionals. Fort Belvoir, Virginia is home to over 90 diverse tenant and satellite organizations. Chapter members, non-members, government, academia, students and industry members are encouraged to participate in supporting the chapter's mission. There are multiple reasons to attend the AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days 2019 in March but here are the 3 top reasons:

1. Face-to-face interaction. Attendees will get to meet with over 100 vendors and can set up one-on-one meetings with speakers.

2. Grow your network. Make valuable connections within your industry.

3. Attend over 30+ sessions. Hear from top government and industry thought leaders including Army contracting officers from the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS).

Our chapter has developed a network that provides educational opportunities in an ethical forum. This environment enables military, government, industry, and academia to align technology and strategy to meet the needs of those who serve. All attendees interested in the cyber security, technology, and electronics are invited to attend.

The chapter hosted a small business networking event in December featuring a panel discussion on source selection and proposal evaluation. Moderated by Reena Bhatia, chief proposal architect at ProposalHelper, panelists answered tough questions and provided the unvarnished truth about all manners of acquisition strategy and source selection topics affecting the Department of Defense (DoD) and its industry partners. Panel members included Evelyn DePalma, who served as director of procurement for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) from 2002-2008 before launching her own business, EMD ProConsulting LLC; Rob Stewart, Jr., who worked in acquisition capacities across many DoD agencies, including as director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Office of Small Business Programs, as a U.S. Air Force Procurement Officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense acquisition community, and in the U.S. Navy, before launching Federal Government Experts; and Jim Kline, who served as Director of Operations for U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) from 2011-2017, a role in which he supported more than 35 organizations by overseeing day-to-day business operations and contracts sustaining a 2,500+ person organization that executes nearly 30% of the Army's IT budget, before founding Nine Dots LLC. The chapter hosts monthly luncheons and frequent small business networking events throughout the year, as well as special events such as AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days, taking place on March 21-22, 2019 at Gaylord National Harbor outside of Washington, DC. To learn about other upcoming small business networking events, contact Eric P. Strauss at eric.strauss@logc2.com or visit the AFCEA Belvoir Chapter website.

Scott J. White, director of the cybersecurity program and Cyber Academy at George Washington University, gave a wide-ranging talk at the chapter's September kickoff luncheon. About 55 students listened to White speak about his path to becoming an intelligence officer Canadian Security Intelligence Service and his transition to academia. He stressed the need for individuals aspiring to join the intelligence community or security sector to incorporate security as a lifestyle and a way of thinking in their daily affairs and the importance of being grounded in some hobby or activity outside of work. Students also learned about the prevalence of spies in the Washington, D.C., area and the need to be especially guarded against potential recruitment efforts by foreign adversaries. The talk concluded with a brief question-and-answer session.

Chapter board members presented 121 teachers at Fort Belvoir Primary and Upper schools each $50 gift cards, totaling $6,050, to kick off their school year in August. The schools educate children from pre-K through the sixth grade. The chapter has supported Virginia's Fort Belvoir Elementary Campus, which includes both schools, for the last 10 years with teacher grants, science grants, a storage unit and a room dedicated to STEM activities.

More than 250 students from various colleges and universities converged on the Woodbridge campus of Northern Virginia Community College for the third annual Innovation Hackathon in April, sponsored in part by the chapter. Students came prepared to lock themselves in for the 36-hour, around-the-clock competition. Challenges were designed to test the skills of those specializing in cybersecurity and secure coding. Event sponsors ranging from small to large business provided the challenges. General Dynamics Information Technology and Rigil Corp., AFCEA corporate members and event sponsors, provided challenges. The chapter, the parent sponsor of the NVCC Student Chapter, was the event's top sponsor. This year, the board conceptualized a challenge-one of the benefits of sponsorship-to address a need for all AFCEA chapters. Students had to create a mobile membership app specific to AFCEA. But before students began their work, they listened to keynote speaker Kenneth Fritzsche of the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Protection and Programs Directorate. Fritzsche, who holds a Ph.D. in computer science, discussed his career progression and stressed the importance of actively participating in educational opportunities. The chapter board member encouraged participants to consider STEM when exploring lucrative career options. "STEM is more than just learning about science, technology, engineering and math courses. It's also about learning how to think critically and become a problem solver," Fritzsche said. "The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported there will be a 73 percent increase of STEM career growth in the next seven years, with a focus in computer-related fields. This is your time to focus on what you want your career and future to look like after you complete your education." Highly trained cybersecurity experts also spoke to participants on topics such as computer science and information technology through "Tech Talks." Several dignitaries stopped by the hackathon, including Michael Wooten, assistant deputy secretary for community colleges in the U.S. Department of Education. The teams presented their work to judges. Representing AFCEA were Fritzsche; Alvie Johnson, National Capital Region regional vice president; Bill Jones, chapter president; and Ivan Johnson, chapter treasurer. The challenges involved the complexities of data visualization, developing applications, information assurance and secure programming. Prizes were awarded to first-, second- and third-place winners. Also, sponsors honored seven students, who each received a $1,000 Hackathon Award. The event also included a job fair that provided participants and the general public a chance to explore career opportunities with local information technology and cybersecurity companies. The chapter looks forward to introducing the students' app at an upcoming AFCEA event.

The chapter hosted a small-business forum as part of AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days in April. The heavily attended event featured lively discussion on a wide range of topics, from the pros and cons of the U.S. Defense Department and Small Business Administration (SBA) Mentor-Protégé programs to the roles of the U.S. Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) in advocating for the small business industrial base. Tommy Marks, director, Army Small Business Programs, kicked off the forum with a keynote luncheon presentation highlighting last fiscal year's Army small business spending performance and this fiscal year's goals and objectives. "Small business is big business in the Department of the Army," he said. Shannon Jackson, associate director, Defense Department Office of Small Business Programs, discussed defense priorities, small-business spending performance data and goals, the increasing importance of category management, the department's Mentor-Protégé Program and tips for small businesses to get the attention of decision makers. Andrea Armstrong, director, Aberdeen Proving Ground Office of Small Business Programs, noted that for each of the last three years, the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) and the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) have collectively spent nearly $2.5 billion with small businesses across all socioeconomic categories. She provided recommendations on preparing for meetings with the APG commanding general, program executive officers (PEOs), program managers (PMs), contracting officers and other APG organizations and individuals. Armstrong also shared details on nearly two dozen upcoming contracting opportunities. Robert Stewart Jr., director of acquisition and technology innovation, OSBP, DTRA, and Donald Shires, DTRA R&D Division head for contracts, discussed the agency's mission, strategic imperatives, priorities and upcoming contract opportunities potentially worth billions of dollars. Finally, Holly Schick, director, All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), SBA, explained the program's benefits, provided insights about what makes a successful ASMPP relationship and described how the program fits into the broader federal mentor-protégé program landscape. For more information on the material presented or to learn about other small-business networking events, contact Eric P. Strauss at eric.strauss@logc2.com, or visit the chapter website at https://belvoir.afceachapters.org.