MARCH 4, 2014: Our speaker was Captain Amy Burin, com-manding officer of SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic(SSC Atlantic) here in North Charleston.
After tours in Baghdad, Iraq as the Director of Information Technology for the Department of State’s Project and Contracting Office, and Bahrain as the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications and Information Systems and Deputy Director of Communications, she became the Deputy Director of Navy Space in the Office of the Chief of Na-val Operations in Washington, D.C. (OPNAV) in the In-formation Dominance Directorate. She is now first Information Dominance Corps (IDC) Warfare Officer commanding SSC Atlantic.
SPAWAR is a Naval Information Technology(IT) Command. It’s the Navy’s single IT technical authority for all IT/Info Systems and Networks. They deliver IT for Command Forces, cyber security, and for Navy business systems. Their mission is to rapidly deliver and support solutions that enable information dominance(ID) for our Naval, Joint, National, and Coalition Warfighters.
SPAWAR delivers IT capabilities designed to streamline shipboard networks and provide a secure common computing environment across the Navy fleet. They also provide the USMC and the Special Operations Command witht eh IT to succeed in increasingly complex environments. SPAWAR is also responsible for all of DOD’s UHF narrowband satellite communications acquisition. This is the military’s most effective band for penetrating jungle foliage, bad weather and urban settings.
SPAWAR has 6 strategic US locations and another 5 throughout the rest of the world. Their FY2013 budget was $4.2B and they have 120 buildings worldwide with a total of 2.2Msqft. There are almost 4k government employees and almost 10k contracts and another 116 US military members working for SPAWAR. Charleston employs 2600 government employees and has 81 buildings with 1.4Msqft. Other key SPAWAR locations in the US include Hampton Rds VA, New Orleans LA, Tampa FL, DC, and San Diego.
53% of SPAWAR’s workforce is employed in engineering and another 19% in logistics/fleet support. They support many programs, including STEM Outreach, that help make our communities better, stronger, and more vibrant places to live, work, and do business. Their ‘Going Green’ initiatives in FY2013 reduced Green-house Gas by 1752 Metric tons.
— Submitted by Doug Holmes, Keyway Editor