DOD nominates pair to fill DISA posts
Defense Department Secretary William Cohen has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Henry D. Raduege Jr. to take over as director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.
Defense Department Secretary William Cohen has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Henry D. Raduege Jr. to take over as director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.Cohen also nominated Army Brig. Gen. James D. Bryan to be DISA vice director.The pair, whose appointments require approval by the Senate Armed Services Committee, would bring to DISA the experience of operating joint organizations' communications systems.Raduege is now the command and control systems director for North American Aerospace Defense and the U.S. Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. He is also the communication and information director for the Air Force Space Command and is chief information officer for all three organizations.Bryan is the command, control, communications and computer systems director for the Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. In the new job he would be promoted to major general.Raduege would also be manager of the National Communications System, which provides communications protection and ensures telecommunications interoperability for 22 federal agencies during national crises. He would also receive a promotion, to lieutenant general.Raduege would replace Army Lt. Gen. David J. Kelley, who will retire in June [GCN, Jan. 10, Page 46]. Bryan would replace Air Force Maj. Gen. John H. Campbell, whom the CIA has selected as its next associate director for military support.To succeed at his new job, Raduege must develop Web applications and interoperable security systems for command and control, logistics, medical and other functions, Michael J. Mestrovich said. Mestrovich, who worked at DISA from 1991 to 1996 as deputy director for enterprise integration, is president and chief executive officer of Unlimited New Dimensions LLC of Dumfries, Va.Improving employee retention and training also will be a hot issue, as will helping the services upgrade systems to meet the requirements of the Defense Information Infrastructure's Common Operating Environment, Mestrovich said.Besides DII COE, Raduege would manage the Defense Information Systems Network, the Global Command and Control System, the Defense Message System and the Global Combat Support System.Another agenda item for the next DISA management team will be sorting out the agency's relationship with other Defense organizations that have cross-agency authority. One such organization is the Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense, whose focus is systems protection. Formerly under DISA, the task force in October became part of the U.S. Space Command.DISA also must work with the Joint Electronic Commerce Program Office. Directed by Pentagon brass to promote online projects, the program is closely tied to the Defense Logistics Agency's Chief Information Office.As for procurement and integration, Raduege and Bryan would have an early challenge in the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet buy. Scheduled for an early June award, the contract would let vendors offer a non-DISN network for long-haul communications.
Maj. Gen. Henry D. Raduege is a 30-year Air Force veteran who has spent many tours in IT command posts.
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