WESTFORD, Mass. – The program executive officers at Hanscom Air Force Base discussed upcoming business opportunities and provided insights into their portfolios during the Hanscom Program Executive Offices Fall Update Oct. 31.
Hosted by the Hanscom Representatives Association, the event was held at the Westford Regency Hotel and Conference Center in Westford, Massachusetts.
Jeremy Thiele, deputy program executive officer for Cyber & Networks, addressed the reoptimization of the C&N portfolio and upcoming business opportunities in the context of Great Power Competition.
“There are a lot of changes going on across the Air Force,” said Thiele. “All organizations are being affected, or improved, and optimized. The biggest impact for Cyber & Networks, beyond being changed from Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks to C&N, is that our Aerial Networks Division is going to be realigned underneath Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management sometime in 2025.”
The transition support process for the Air Force is set to begin in the coming months, with minimal impact anticipated for the workforce. Next summer, when the Aerial Networks Division officially realigns, the senior materiel leader of Aerial Networks will report to C&N one day and to C3BM the next, ensuring a seamless transition.
The Cyber and Networks directorate currently oversees more than 2,600 personnel and manages a $15.1 billion portfolio dedicated to developing, producing, deploying, and sustaining joint and coalition cyberspace capabilities for the Department of the Air Force.
Thiele encouraged industry to contact the C&N leadership and the Hanscom Innovation Team with any ideas that will benefit the warfighter. Additionally, Thiele discussed the C&N Artificial Intelligence initiatives and the passion behind the goal for both him and PEO C&N Maj. Gen. Anthony Genatempo to bring these innovative solutions forward to enhance the Air Force.
“Focus on the things you can start today, tomorrow, and next—those small actions will add up to real impact,” said Thiele. “Automate the mundane tasks so they just happen, freeing up the human mind for more time on what truly requires critical thinking. For our Air Force warfighters, this means spending less time on repetitive processes and more time on mission-critical decisions that directly impact readiness and effectiveness.”
Andrea Panagoulias, director of Hanscom Air Force Base Small Business Programs, moderated a reverse industry day panel that highlighted opportunities for collaborating with small businesses in support of PEO missions fielding advanced technologies to the warfighter.
Col. William Collins, deputy PEO, Electronic Systems, noted the portfolio’s recent update to PEO Electronic Systems, as a directorate for the Information Dominance Systems Center, one of three system centers being established as part of reoptimizing for Great Power Competition.
“As we start to transform and understand our new role, it is an exciting time in the Air Force,” said Collins. “As we shape the new directorate, we are committed to extreme teaming with a focus on over communication, collaboration, and cooperation. Bottom-line, Airmen will find a way to win; and as an acquisition organization, we should work to streamline processes as much as possible to accelerate capability to the warfighter.”
Collins noted the Electronic Systems Directorate advocates for driving competition and supporting small businesses. In addition, he stated that industry and government are often competing for the same talent, and how recruitment and retention play a significant role in supporting the warfighter’s mission.
The PEO for Electronic Systems leads more than 1,800 Airmen, government civilians, and support contractor personnel in the acquisition and execution of a $11.3 billion portfolio associated with growing technology and closely aligned with the operational community to ensure warfighters can function in a contested environment.
Kate Nelson, director, PEO C3BM, provided an overview of C3BM PEO Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey’s extreme teaming approach and how improved communication, cooperation, and collaboration is driving culture change across C3BM.
“We are focusing on the integration, talent, and incentivizing of top tier talent to keep them on board for the long haul,” said Nelson.
C3BM is looking at doing business differently with shorter time frames. Nelson noted the directorate is seeking vendor behaviors such as fast capability delivery, modular design, data rights ownership, vendor collaboration, flexibility, the best-in-breed products and services, acquisition methods to optimize lifetime cost, and focusing on extreme teaming.
The directorate is composed of more than 3,000 personnel and is the integrating entity for C3BM within the department, aligning technical architecture and acquisition authorities to execute its efforts to streamline the delivery of decision advantage capabilities.
Scott Hardiman, director of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s Nuclear Command, Control and Communications Integration Directorate and Air Force program executive officer for NC3, provided an overview of the NC3 mission, the directorate’s structure, function, and ability to maintain command and control through a nuclear attack.
“We are providing critical capability,” Hardiman said. “We operate equipment that we really hope we never use for its intended purpose. If we never use it, then that equipment has fulfilled its mission, which is providing deterrence for the United States and for our allies.”
NC3 systems support all nuclear command-and-control mission-essential functions, such as situation monitoring, planning, decision making, force management and force direction. NC3 systems are in use within every Air Force major command, all combatant and regional commands, the Navy, the Space Force, the Joint Staff, multiple Department of Defense and federal agencies, and the White House.
“The ability to strike after being hit is necessary to keep the adversary from throwing the first strike in the first place,” Hardiman said. “They have to know that we will be able to command and control our systems.”
Hardiman challenged industry partners to prioritize technical talent to produce and deliver results in a critical mission area. The NC3 Integration Directorate is seeking nontraditional partners that can bring novel solutions to meet Great Power Competition challenges. He added that industry needs to improve capacity and quality control.
The PEO for NC3 reports to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, while the NC3 Integration Directorate is part of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center and directly supports Air Force Global Strike Command.
The AFNWC directorate executes a portfolio of 29 programs valued at $14 billion that provide survivable and endurable communications for the nuclear enterprise. The directorate comprises 600 military, government civilians and support contractors responsible for integrating thousands of individual nuclear command-and-control communications systems and subsystems that support and enable nuclear deterrent operations.
The Hanscom Representatives Association brings representatives from the Hanscom area businesses together to encourage collaboration in the acquisition process.