Congratulations 2024 Impact Award Honorees!
We look forward to honoring you for your outstanding performance across (one or more of) our six strategic priorities: People and Culture, Growth, Technical Capabilities, Service Delivery, Brand Awareness, and Shareholder Value.
As you prepare for the 2024 Annual Impact Awards Ceremony, please visit this page regularly for the latest updates and information.
Andy
We all have the ability to make an impact.
How?
Watch the video and find out more. Then ask yourself …
“How am I making an impact today?”
View the Impact Award honorees and scroll down to read more about their exemplary work!
People and Culture
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to become employer of choice in defense technology.”
Keeping Mission Technologies’ Culture at the Forefront
Manager inspires growth through motivating leadership
Marcy Knoll, an international trade compliance manager, is being honored with a 2024 Impact Award for her influence on People and Culture.
Knoll fosters an environment of continuous development, encouraging her team to pursue education and training that enhances their capabilities. Knoll’s nomination cited that she fosters growth within her team and frequently encourages them to attend outside training, education and development.
Members of her team commented:
“Marcy has impacted me personally by encouraging me to pursue my career. I have decided to go back to college to finish my degree and changed my major to international trade. Without Marcy fostering my growth and building my confidence, I’m not sure I would have made this decision.”
“Marcy is one of the best managers I have ever had in my career. She works hard to not only ensure that all departments that deal with international business are educated, supported and given tools for success, but she also goes above and beyond for our ICO team. She is always there for us when we need assistance or have questions, she creates a safe, healthy work environment and always encourages us to continue to improve and reach for our career goals. Her actions have created a cohesive, well-maintained and efficient ICO team. By building us up, she in turn builds up and supports the growing international business here at Mission Technologies.”
“She thanks us after every call and ensures we have all the tools and resources we need to get our jobs done efficiently and accurately. She goes to bat for us while keeping the Mission Technologies culture a forefront in her mind.”
Knoll was nominated by international trade compliance analysts Amanda Greer and Kayla Keel.
LANL Team “Fights Well Above Their Weight”
HII’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) First Production Unit and Beyond team may be small in size, but its members are making a significant impact on customer operations and nuclear security at one of the nation’s most critically important Department of Energy (DOE) sites.
LANL, a federally funded research and development center, executes work across all DOE missions, including national security. HII is involved with two LANL joint ventures with on-site operations, including Triad National Security LLC (as an integrated subcontractor) and N3B LLC (as the JV lead with BWX Technologies). The HII LANL team, led by Mark Davis and comprising Kevin Birocco, Timothy Bolen, Darlene Chisholm, Kevin Gallahue and Joseph Noll, supports Triad activities.
As the chief operations officer for the Associate Laboratory Directorate for Weapons Production (ALDWP), Davis oversees an organization of more than 2,400 people, both direct and supporting, with an annual budget of more than $1 billion. ALDWP is the only plant within the National Nuclear Security Administration enterprise that produces plutonium pits for the nation. ALDWP also conducts numerous other missions in support of NNSA.
LANL has not, until now, required an approach to operations that both operates the nuclear facilities (seven nuclear facilities total within the HII team portfolio) at high-capacity while being simultaneously overhauled. Under Davis’ leadership, the HII LANL team recently began instituting process and behavior changes within the ALDWP that will have both near- and long-term benefits to not only the team’s LANL customers but also to the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the nation.
Davis was charged with developing ALDWP into a mature production agency, capable of meeting NNSA’s pit production needs in support of the Department of Defense. To that end, Davis and the HII team built the COO organization from the ground up, increasing communication and collaboration within the ALDWP organization, with the other ALDs across the laboratory, and with the NNSA customer. The COO organization is focused on improving four key areas integral to a high-performance production agency: conduct of operations, maintenance, integrated scheduling, and configuration management. LANL team members also energized the workforce through multiple communication paths.
Thanks to their efforts, the team improved performance in an organization that is growing rapidly in response to an ever-increasing mission. As a result, LANL achieved the highest fee score under the present contract.
“The HII team at LANL is a team of six out of 17,000, but they ‘fight well above their weight,’” Davis said. “Each is in an impactful position within the weapons production organization, and their technical expertise, conduct of operations pedigree and teamwork enable the team to stand out.”
Bolen, Triad’s deputy chief operations officer for Weapons Production, agreed that the drive to succeed was truly a team effort.
“This team’s achievement is a vital step to ensuring national security for the United States by re-establishing the capability to produce pits,” Bolen said. “The enjoyment comes from working with a dedicated team to meet the demands necessary to get the first production unit produced.”
Davis and the LANL team will continue to oversee numerous other missions in support of NNSA including non-nuclear component production surveillance, manufacturing for deep space missions, and materials management and waste operations.
“Traveling the Globe Without Leaving Home”
Congratulations to Lisa Helt, Pauline Tudor and Scott Watson, the C5ISR Travel Team, for being selected as Impact Award honorees for their work in supporting the company’s goals of becoming the employer of choice in defense technology.
Helt, Tudor and Watson played a pivotal role in supporting travel logistics for four major C5ISR programs—DMATs, PMRO, PRESS and PR/CASEVAC—from January 2023 through March 2024. During this 15-month period, they collectively managed $6.547 million in travel expenses, handling 819 Travel Authorization Requests (TARs), 1,705 Travel Reservations (TRs), and 548 Expense Reports (ERs).
The team was nominated by said Bill McDonough, who wrote: “To work and collaborate across numerous internal and external stakeholders (program managers, deputy program managers, TDL leads, government mission partners, GSA/FEDSIM contracting officer representative teams) has been huge. Their work exemplifies the core values of HII and reinforces our commitment to delivering exceptional service and support to our clients.”
“The fact that Bill took the time to nominate all three of us is an honor and truly appreciated,” Helt said. “Paula, Scott and I do not work directly together on a daily basis. We mostly perform the same functions as a whole, and collaborate to share our challenges and successes during our weekly meetings.”
The team’s dedication and expertise allowed them to process over 200 travel transactions, totaling nearly $400,000 in travel costs. Despite the complexity and volume of these tasks, these three individuals required minimal supervision, demonstrating their deep understanding of the travel processes and their commitment to excellence.
“I’m honored to be part of a phenomenal team of professionals who make it easy to have a positive impact every day,” Tudor said. “Though our footprint is small, our travel team strives to provide exceptional support to our teammates as they travel the globe in support of the warfighter. When they succeed, we all succeed, it’s a collaborative effort.”
“I am humbled to be part of this year’s distinguished group of awardees,” Watson said. “This will only foster the passion that I have for mission support and ensuring that the mission is done right the first time, every time. I firmly believe our team’s success is a result of everyone’s hard work, professionalism and dedication to the mission.”
Growth
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to achieve industry-leading topline growth.”
“Positive Performance Leads to Key Wins”
Lisa Klisch, a senior proposal manager in Mission Technologies’ Chief Growth Office, received a 2024 Impact Award for work that has helped secure more than $2 billion in contract awards, including Theater Army Campaign Support ($1.4B), Joint Network Engineering and Emerging Operations ($1.3B), and Joint Intelligence Operations Center-Korea ($304M).
Klisch was nominated by Eric Fitzwater, director of INDOPACOM, who wrote: “This recognition is a testament to Lisa’s relentless dedication, leadership and unparalleled expertise in driving HII’s success in the competitive world of government contracting. Lisa combines multiple hard to find positive performance attributes into one person. As her teammate, I wish we could have a dozen more employees just like her.”
What sets Klisch apart is her unique blend of skills and qualities that make her a truly exceptional proposal manager. She possesses a deep understanding of the request for proposal process, allowing her to expertly handle contractual questions and coordinate with contract managers when necessary. Her organization abilities are second to none—Klisch keeps both her tasks and those of the operations writing team on track, ensuring that deadlines are met without compromising quality.
“I am very grateful for the recognition,” Klisch said. “I didn’t expect it.”
When asked, “What advice do you have for others to strive for the level of excellence that led to your nomination?” Klisch said, “Be flexible and willing to help where you can. When we have several concurrent proposals, sometimes we have to work long hours or jump in to do a task at the last minute. I’m very lucky. Our team checks in with each other constantly: What do you need? Where can I help? We can’t control when proposals come out or when they’re due or even how many come out at one time, but we can try to be positive when we’re all working hard.”
“Every Day Is a New Challenge”
Albert Einstein once said, “You have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play better than anyone else.”
Mission Technologies’ C5ISR 53 Science and Technology/Business Development team has embraced this mindset, excelling from stand-up through execution and award of contracts—and achieving remarkable results along the way.
The team, comprising Eric Brown, Madison Jaronski, Joseph Johnson, Neil Kuhn, Scott Leonard, Jennifer Super and Jimmy Willard, was created in FY23 to formally address business development. Members quickly organized, assigning a dedicated business development person to each of C5ISR’s six business areas and adopting the military task force numbering system to enable easy flow-down and assignments.
A single team site was set up to house the team’s briefs, procedures and templates, and a battle rhythm of weekly and monthly business development status reviews, formulated strategic capture plans, gate reviews, reports, trade shows and contacts was established. Finally, members set up team sites for the individual business areas and formalized an S&T business development procedure document.
This year, the team tracked on average up to 220 opportunities daily in Salesforce, maintained and grew the pipeline from $9 billion to $17 billion, and performed more than 200 gate reviews. At the end of Q1 2024, Ops 53 had 31 contracts in evaluation. Members participated in multiple solutioning events, built response teams, orchestrated non-disclosure agreements and teaming agreements, engaged customers and conducted proposal reviews. They also planned and attended numerous trade shows and conferences and coordinated numerous technical demonstrations, including the first HII Technology Open House in Patuxent River, Maryland.
“The team made it very easy to nominate them for this prestigious award,” said nominator Frank McFalls, director of business development for C5ISR Systems. “Hard work, innovation and constantly leaning forward makes them a great team to belong to. I couldn’t be prouder to see them get recognized for their successes.”
He pointed out that each business area has its own unique capabilities and challenges.
“Every day is a new challenge,” said Willard, C5ISR Systems’ research and development portfolio manager. “We enjoy traveling to meet new customers and learning more about their needs. “
The fruits of their efforts have been significant. In FY23, the team submitted 71 total proposals and won 100% of the recompete bids as well as 32 of 42 new business contracts. In the first quarter of 2024, they won eight out of 11 awards, bringing the combined total to 40 out of 53 contracts won from January 2023 to March 2024 and achieving a 76% win rate. In conjunction with the entire 53 operation, they also helped provide more than 101 white papers, broad agency announcements, requests for information and other transaction agreements.
Jaronski, a business development representative, attributes the team’s success to natural collaboration open communication. “We all work very well together,” she said. “Our work is challenging, and there are some long days, but we find ways to laugh and have fun along the way. That makes all the difference!”
Leonard, a business development manager, agreed.
“I lead with a sense of humor to help build esprit de corps and a high-performing team, which comes because we work together toward the same goal while valuing and respecting one another,” he said. “A high-performing team translates to high-quality, winning proposals and new business for the company.”
“One Team, One Fight”
Team honored for collaborative work that led to Navy’s ITSIS contract
Ten Mission Technologies leaders are being honored for collaborative work that led to the award of the U.S. Navy’s Integrated Training Systems Installation and Sustainment (ITSIS) contract in 2023.
Fleet Sustainment leaders Deborah Anderson, Charlene Bradford, Denise Cuevas, Mark Flyge, Melissa Harmon, Natasha Lafon, Rafael Pena and Steve Wacker—along with James Yohe from the LVC Solutions business group and Kristina White from Human Resources—received a 2024 Impact Award in the Growth category.
The team was nominated by Fleet Sustainment Vice Presidents Sabrina Bailey and Tim McCue, who wrote: “This nomination recognizes the outstanding collaboration between Fleet Sustainment and LVC Solutions, as well as the exceptional efforts of our Talent Acquisition team. Together, we unseated a long-standing incumbent of 23 years, transitioned and began the successful execution of the ITSIS contract with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dam Neck Activity.”
Bailey and McCue noted that during their most recent program review, the customer “was very complimentary of our performance … stating, ‘It is refreshing to have a company that is willing to bend over backward to support the fleet.’”
“This recognition was very unexpected, and quite frankly, I’m still speechless,” Anderson said. “I am humbled that our HII team of shipboard and shore-based installers, engineers, trainers and ILS personnel have made an impact in a short amount of time. They demonstrated to the government the value of our knowledge, capability and experience—and with no disruption to the Navy’s mission.”
Wacker expressed similar sentiment, saying: “We have truly taken this task on as ‘One team, one fight.’ Our product is to fully support our nation’s warfighters, and I am proud to do that every day.
Yohe, the team’s LVS Solutions representative, said it “feels especially awesome to be recognized by another team.” “Both teams have been working very hard to offer our customer integrated solutions that use both our skill sets!” he said. “I appreciate and am proud of the recognition bestowed by Fleet Sustainment leadership!”
Peña is one of two employees to receive an Impact Award for the second year in a row.
“It’s an honor to be recognized!” he said. “I’m especially proud of the team members that were recognized with me. … Thank you, Mission Technologies, for creating an awesome event to recognize our top performers!”
Technical Capabilities
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to expand capabilities into higher end, differentiated solutions.”
“Maintaining Excellence in the Battlefield”
LVC Solutions engineers recognized for work on JSAF simulator
Technological innovation is a key tenet of Mission Technologies and fuels the development of solutions that can have a dramatic impact on customer operations and mission success.
Recently, a small team of enterprising engineers in Mission Technologies’ LVC Solutions business group, led by Joseph Chunta, the Joint Semi-Automated Forces (JSAF) software engineering lead for the Navy Training Baseline (NTB), used their ingenuity to improve the service delivery of JSAF core simulation software for the NTB Software Support Activity lead.
JAWS is a command and control component of the JSAF simulator, which enables users to set up training scenarios using live or virtual entities such as ships, airplanes or tanks. The tactical scenarios help train sailors’ response times to potential simulated threats. JAWS is a step toward the evolution of JSAF into a modern enterprise application to be used across the Navy Enterprise Tactical Training Network.
“I was amazed with how quickly this team was able to assess deficiencies in the legacy software, identify solutions and implement them,” said Shane Smith, principal software engineer. “All of this while working with our test team to swiftly identify and resolve any issues. These are skills of software engineers of immense talent and ability.”
The JAWS application was suffering from performance and stability issues, putting delivery and usage at risk. To meet the needs of the training audience, JAWS must meet several performance goals to be adopted across all the levels of training, from unit to the combatant commands. This includes training event sizes of thousands of entities with fewer than 30 operators to hundreds of thousands of entities with up to 100 operators.
Chunta and teammates Tien Nhan and Joshua Peterson, both software development engineers, performed a “massive analysis and re-architecture” of JAWS components, specifically JSAF, to generate a faster feedback loop for resolving issues. Their efforts increased customer communications resulting in a better customer relationship with the NTB SSA lead and the HII team.
“I enjoy working in a challenging environment, but what I enjoy most is delivering working products to the customer,” said Nhan, a software engineer. “An engineer’s goal is to do more with less. If I can help our customer in anyway with our software, that personally motivates me and allows me to work with pride and honor.”
Among their accomplishments, JAWS team members co-located primary development staff with the test team to accelerate remediation of issues and improved the software engineering review pipeline to catch more issues before they get to the test team. They also increased customer interaction to communicate the plan and demonstrate improvements. Finally, they incorporated rapid development and integration to meet timelines.
“The work that we do in training our Navy aids in maintaining excellence in the battlefield, hopefully in lessening errors and improving tactical decisions,” Nhan said.
“Work hard. Be honest. Be fair.”
Amina Omar is one of two Mission Technologies employees to win an Impact Award for the second year in a row!
Omar, a database architect, is being honored this year in the Technical Capabilities category for her work on the division’s upgrade to Costpoint Time and Expense.
“I am very grateful,” she said. “It was a pleasant surprise for me the first time around, and there were many other employees who deserved to be recognized—so to win again is exciting and an honor.”
In January 2023, Mission Technologies faced a critical challenge when Deltek announced that its CostPoint and Time and Expense systems wouldn’t receive necessary year-end tax updates for W-2 creation. Despite a lack of vendor guidance, Omar took ownership of the problem, demonstrating exceptional perseverance and technical skill. She engaged in extensive discussions with the vendor and when their solutions proved ineffective, used her own analytical and debugging abilities to resolve the issue with the installation script. Her efforts ensured that W-2s were created and distributed in compliance with Federal law.
“I am a lifelong learner, and the dynamic nature of my work keeps me engaged,” Omar said. “The challenges faced and skills required in my role are always changing. There is always a new type of problem arising and a better tool or approach to drive a solution. I enjoy being challenged and solving problems, which led me to find a solution of a problem we faced as a company when product vendor told us it’s not possible.”
Omar credits a key aspect to her success to the support of mentors and colleagues, particularly her manager.
“My colleagues and specially my manager, Wade Oakes, who is a great mentor, have shown great balance in how they support me,” she said. “They put trust in me to leverage my own experience and judgement in my work but also can offer help and accountability when needed.”
As a family-oriented person, Omar hopes her accomplishments serve as a source of inspiration. “I hope they have an immense pride in what I have done because I do it as an example for them,” she said. “They are my inspiration.”
When asked to share advice for others seeking success, Omar’s message was clear: “Work hard. Be honest. Be fair. Prioritize relationships. Be patient. Never stop learning.”
Amina Omar was nominated by Wade “Billy” Oakes, director of application delivery in Information Technology (IT).
“IONIC Solution Delivers Big Results”
Ten employees at HII’s Enlighten subsidiary received a 2024 Impact Award for their groundbreaking work on IONIC, which has not only driven substantial revenue growth, but also opened strategic entry points into new markets.
James Agius, James Birchfield, James Chandler, Joshua Clum, Katherine Kessler, Douglass Kirkley, Timothy Reardon, Luke Stigdon, Ellen Will and Derek Wright are among the honorees in the Technical Capabilities category.
IONIC stands out as a state-of-the-art solution designed to manage data at an unprecedented scale while meeting zero-trust data security requirements. IONIC facilitates discovery, insights and advanced analytics (including AI/ML) to empower informed decision cycles across an all-domain data landscape.
Agius, a senior principal cloud software engineer, said it’s “an incredible honor” to receive an Impact Award.
“It reflects the hard work and dedication the team has put into pushing the boundaries of what’s possible through technical innovation,” he said. “This recognition not only validates the effort, but also inspires us to continue exploring new ideas and solutions that can make a meaningful difference. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such impactful work and for the acknowledgment from my peers and leaders.”
The IONIC solution has already seen widespread adoption, with over 20 installations across the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. IONIC has been briefed to all USCYBERCOM component commanders and is actively supporting missions. The product has also demonstrated an extraordinary reduction in infrastructure costs while enhancing operational performance, providing 200% capacity for just a quarter of the price.
“Working with the IONIC team has been an incredible experience,” said Chum, a team lead and principal cloud software engineer. “Building and operationalizing a system over petabytes of data has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Everyone has worked extremely hard and sacrificed to see the vision of IONIC come to life. The quality of the work, attention to detail and relentless pursuit of success is changing and will continue to change the DoD cyber experience. This award acknowledges the effort the team has put into this opportunity and the hurdles that have been overcome to make IONIC possible. I’m blessed and thankful to work with such great people every day.”
The IONIC commercial offering is now being actively pursued in additional government markets, such as Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Naval Information Warfare Center and has received export approval for international defense markets, including Australia and Canada. The IONIC solution has also been accepted by the CDAO Tradewinds AI Marketplace, solidifying its position as a leading offering in the industry.
Wright, a principal cloud engineer, said it’s an honor to be recognized.
“The project had picked up steam very quickly, and I applaud the team’s dedication and effort in coming together and delivering such an amazing platform,” he said. “It has been a pleasure
“A Great and Lasting Benefit on the Company”
Unmanned Systems team honored for digital engineering initiatives
Six employees in Mission Technologies’ Unmanned Systems business group are being recognized for their efforts to transform their systems engineering processes “from paper and spreadsheets to digital, traceable environments.”
The Digital Engineering Initiatives team—comprising Madeline Aitkenhead, Ryan Capozzi, Thomas Cooper, Lee Insley, Theodore Souza and Tim Swierzewski—won a 2024 Impact Award in the Growth category.
“Helping bring our systems, integration and test team into a more digital environment will have a great and lasting benefit on the company” Cooper said, “as we’ll be able to keep better track of information for us to look back on and keep us more efficient and effective as a company going forward.”
The team was nominated by Amanda Costa, who noted the team’s impacts on workflow, testing and traceability.
“This team has worked tirelessly between priority projects to establish these capabilities, socialize them with their peers, and get them introduced into the pipeline for unmanned vehicle production,” Costa wrote. “These digital capabilities build up the foundation at Unmanned Systems to more efficiently and effectively advance system designs and track both common and unique sub-components of our many platform variants.”
Cooper said he feels honored to be recognized.
“I also feel humbled,” he said, “as I am amongst a very impressive group of colleagues. … I want to thank our Field Services Team for helping us achieve this award; it would not be possible unless you all are contributing toward this initiative. Thank you to Jason Sempsrott, Jeremy Shattuck, Amanda Costa, Lee Insley, Ted Souza and all your teams for all your support!”
Service Delivery
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to be renowned for ‘best-in-class’ customer experience.”
“His Secret Power Is Making Everyone Around Him Better”
Every now and then a leader comes along who has a natural gift for inspiring people and going the extra mile to address customers’ needs. Michael Brady, a task order project lead at Mission Technologies’, received a 2024 Impact Award for distinguishing himself as a reliable and resourceful solution provider to the U.S. Army’s System Readiness Directorate (SRD) Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Division (AMED).
“Mike is mission-focused, and his secret power is making everyone around him better,” said Jeff Showalter, vice president of cyber, EW and space operations, who nominated Brady for the award. “This includes his team, his customer, his partners and anyone who touches him throughout the day.”
Since early 2023, Brady has been intentional and organized in attuning to the Army SRD customer’s needs and priorities and leading a team that is focused on exceeding those requirements promptly and positively. At the customer’s request, Brady was appointed TOPL based on his superb leadership and accomplishments—an extraordinary request given that HII is a subcontractor on the task order.
Since his appointment, he has made significant and strategic accomplishments to improve service delivery and position HII as the foremost solution provider for the SRD AMED.
“At times, it’s crucial to look beyond the customers we are supporting directly and remember that together with them as a team, we support our ultimate customers, our warfighters, and our nation,” Brady said. “During those challenging days when extra patience and fortitude are required to accomplish the demanding mission despite significant shifts in the direction of tasking and sometimes testing personalities, it’s essential to remember to humble yourself, take care of your team and accomplish the mission.”
His accomplishments include the creation of a task order “trade program,” which is designed to provide contractor support engineers and analysts a roadmap on professional development requirements for their positions. Recognizing the benefits of the program, the customer joined the planning team to learn how to adopt a similar program for the Army. Brady also created a best practices initiative to facilitate sharing sustainment engineering best practices between the Army customer and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. The best practices initiative allows for a candid line of communication for customers to share their short- and long-range goals and the capabilities they strive to acquire and has led to a dramatic improvement in HII rapport with the Army SRD customers.
Finally, Brady’s leadership has led to one of the highest Gallup engagement participation and engagement rates in Mission Technologies’ Cyber, EW and Space business group. He has used the Gallup action planning process for the past three years to create an inclusive and collaborative team that is constantly focused on improvement and has organized more than a dozen company team building and family engagement activities.
“I am thankful and blessed to receive this award, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team,” he said. “It is humbling to know that they believe I made a difference in the eyes of both them and the customers we support, that our time and dedicated efforts were worth it, and that we were able to effect positive change while accomplishing the critical mission.”
Brady said he is inspired to work for a company like HII that values service and how it is delivered.
“I thrive in an environment where I can lead from the middle, pushing and pulling resources to facilitate our team members’ success, whether government employees or contractors,” he said. “I enjoy accompanying them as needed and helping our team complete all assigned tasks on time and target, and I am grateful to be in a role where I can foster a collaborative environment and nurture growth.”
“Facilitating Info Dominance”
Bobby Boquiren awarded for support of the Joint Intelligence Operations Center-Korea
Bobby Boquiren, an intelligence analyst at HII Mission Technologies, received an Impact Award in the Service Delivery category for his work supporting the Joint Intelligence Operations Center-Korea (JIOC-K).
Under the $305 million Defense Intelligence Agency contract, a recompete awarded in March of 2024, HII provides intelligence analysis and operational support services for the JIOC-K.
Boquiren was nominated by James Fitzwater, who said Boquiren’s efforts “facilitated info dominance, decision superiority and mission continuity and provided Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea warfighters with warfighting advantages across multiple warfare domains.”
“The work we perform helps improve delivering actionable intelligence to the Commander,” Boquiren said, “enabling timely decision-making to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula remains. This award is a celebration of our collective impact.”
Fitzwater’s nomination cited positive feedback from JIOC-K customers, who wrote: “Bobby … has unique customer service orientation in which he discusses both problems, as well as solutions, with those customers that he is supporting” and “I would like Bobby Boquiren to remain permanently with JIOC-K.”
Boquiren served in the U.S. Marine Corps and joined Mission Technologies’ C5ISR business group in 2022.
“My deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Tuan Pham; Eric Fitzwater and the HII Team Korea for this recognition,” he said. “This award is not just a testament to my efforts, but a reflection of the teamwork, collaboration and encouragement we provide each other.”
“A Testament to the Power of Teamwork and Collaboration”
LRUSV Team honored for service delivery to the U.S. Marine Corps
Bryan Perez says HII’s work on the Long-Range Unmanned Surface Vehicle program has succeeded on two fronts: It has directly contributed to Mission Technologies’ growth in the USV field; it has also strengthened the relationship between Mission Technologies and the U.S. Marine Corps.
“It’s been exciting,” he said, “to see how our work on this project is driving tangible results that align with the company’s strategic goals.”
Perez and nine teammates from Mission Technologies’ Unmanned Systems business group—Kyle Brady, Sean Brown, Scott Corey, Michael Gracia, Joshua Kemp, Alejandro Perez, Kristopher Sipe, David Summer and Steven Wood—received a 2024 Impact Award in the Service Delivery category.
The LRUSV program is an intra-theater unmanned maritime fires platform capable of traveling autonomously for 1,000 nautical miles and launching loitering munitions and small USVs to support littoral operations in a contested environment by providing kinetic effects on both sea and land targets.
At Integrated Battle Problem (IBP) 24.1, held in March 2024 at Camp Pendleton in California, the team showcased innovation and operational excellence to advance the U.S. Navy’s capabilities in unmanned naval operations.
“Receiving the Impact Award is an incredible honor for the entire LRUSV team,” Kemp, a
software engineer, said. “It validates the hard work and dedication we’ve been putting into developing the LRUSV for the Marine Corps. This recognition not only boosts our morale, but also motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation and excellence in our field while continuing to exceed the expectations and demands of our customer.”
Kemp also highlighted “the collaborative spirit and technical expertise” of the team.
“From the ground up,” he said, “we’ve worked tirelessly to integrate advanced, cutting-edge technology creating the Marine Corps’ exact depiction of what they were looking for in a USV. This award is a testament to our collective effort and the support we’ve received throughout HII. We’re excited about the future and look forward to continuing our work on the innovative projects that support our nation’s defense.”
Bryan Perez, who submitted the nomination, added: “I would like to once again acknowledge the collective effort of everyone who’s been involved in this project. This award is a testament to the power of teamwork and collaboration. I’m excited for the future of all Mission Technologies’ USV current and future projects.”
Brand Awareness
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to establish HII as a well-recognized technology solution provider”
“I Feel Privileged and Grateful”
Creative & Digital Team honored for work in Brand Awareness
“As the lead for the Creative & Digital Team,” Jennifer Thompson said, “it is not lost on me that we contribute in a big way to how our brand is perceived internally and externally. When I stop and realize that the things we publish externally are seen by potentially millions of people, it’s pretty thrilling and scary!”
That responsibility has led Thompson and her teammates, Lesley “Scott” Breeden and Rachel Sensale, to another thrill: winning a 2024 Impact Award in the Brand Awareness category.
“Every day we carefully combine words, imagery and design in order to tell the HII story across many different platforms,” Thompson said. “What we produce can help decision-makers get our solutions into the hands of the warfighter. It can help attract and retain individuals with the right talent to advance the capabilities that make our nation more secure.”
The Creative & Digital Team was nominated by Jim Roberts, director of integrated communications, who noted that they work in different states (Virginia, Alabama and Massachusetts) but “do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
“Scott and Rachel stay up-to-date on the latest design technology, including video production and animation,” he wrote. “It is an honor to work with them and to see what they are capable of individually—and what we are capable of as a team.”
Breeden said his goal is “to cultivate a natural affinity for our brand and products.”
“Being a key member of a skilled team working behind the scenes, it’s incredibly satisfying to see how the visual content I produce has made such a significant contribution to Mission Technologies’ achievements,” he said. “I feel privileged and grateful to be acknowledged for the efforts I’ve put in.”
Mission Technologies employees can view the team’s work on the Brand Central Station intranet page.
“Be Creative. Think Outside Of The Box”
Talent Acquisition team transforms recruitment and elevates brand through LinkedIn Live series
Talent Acquisition employees Matthew Jordan and Darryl Williams are being honored with the 2024 Impact Award in the Brand Awareness category for their work on the LinkedIn Live series: “Finding Your Purpose with HII.”
“It means a lot to be recognized for going above and beyond to not only impact the organization, but also the individuals that take in our content,” Williams said.
“Being named an impact award winner is incredibly flattering,” Jordan said. “I did not realize that Finding your Purpose with HII was even on the radar at this level. I’ve learned a lot from Darryl while working on this project. Professionally, it’s a motivating reminder that my efforts are valued and reinforces my drive to continue contributing to the workplace in a positive way and striving for excellence.”
The Talent Acquisition Team invested tremendous effort in preparing for live stream sessions, ensuring they were informative, engaging and successful. Their strategic approach included identifying target audiences (such as recent graduates, experienced professionals and military veterans), developing content, testing technology, rehearsing, promoting the sessions and collecting feedback.
“In 2023, Matthew Jordan and I had an idea to strategically place our organization in front of thousands of individuals that might looking to make a career change by orchestrating and executing a livestream series on LinkedIn,” Williams said. “Nicole Goldman, vice president of talent acquisition, suggested that we host the series. Over the next 12-plus months, we shared our division, it’s impact on our nation’s security, and shared our career opportunities with our audience externally and internally.”
“The vision was always to position our open positions to the outside audience, but what it grew into so much more impactful,” Williams said. “It became a way to educate other professionals on why we are successful, provide a platform for our leaders to share their philosophies, and to bring teams together to continue to unite to meet the demands of our mission in supporting our customers. During the last year, we achieved over 100,000 views across various social platforms.”
“Be creative. Think outside of the box,” Williams said. “Don’t be afraid to share ideas, push beyond boundaries, and don’t settle for the minimum. Use your results as a baseline and continue to establish plans to grow regardless of the objective.”
Echoing the sentiment, Williams, who served for more than 20 years added, “I was blessed with the opportunity to serve our country. Now, I get the opportunity to continue that service, but in a different capacity. Today, I pride myself in finding, attracting and employing today’s professionals to assist in our mission of preserving our nation’s security.”
The Finding Your Purpose with HII team was nominated by Ricardo Munoz, talent acquisition lead and DoD SkillBridge partner.
Shareholder Value
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to drive shareholder value through growth in earnings and free cash flow.”
“Cash is King!”
Finance accounts receivable team wins 2024 Impact Award
Finance employees Michele Brandt, Natalie King and Christy Westenhofer are being recognized for their impact in the Shareholder Value category.
“I was so excited to learn that my managers and I were selected for this award,” said Brandt, director of business management. “Personally, I could not be happier about this award. My father, Mike Brandt, retired from HII (Ingalls Shipbuilding) in 2017. It makes me so happy to be able to share with my father that I am a recipient of this award. I look forward to having him accompany me to the ceremony. Priceless moment to share with my father.”
The Accounts Receivable Team was instrumental in Mission Technologies beating its operating cash flow budget for 2023 by $82 million. This was accomplished through several process and reporting improvements.
“Cash is a huge focal point for HII Mission Technologies,” Brandt said. “Many measures were put in place over the past 18 months to improve processes, both internally and externally, to ensure we are submitting accurate invoices to our customers in a timely manner.”
The Accounts Receivable Team plays a significant role within the organization, generating approximately $2.8B worth of invoices for the period (Jan. 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024).
“Collaboration with other departments is necessary for the AR department to achieve cash targets,” Brandt said. “We rely on the program managers and project controllers to review their invoices as quickly and accurately as possible so we can get invoices submitted and paid as timely as possible. We rely on contracts and legal to intervene when we have a customer that is not paying according to contract terms. We rely on senior management to assist with communicating the importance of cash to other departments and to show support of new initiatives being implemented to improve invoice cycle time. We rely on the service center (AP/Travel/Timecards) to book costs into Costpoint correctly and timely so we can convert the costs to invoices as quickly as possible.”
When asked to explain the significance and impact of their work, Brandt said, “Cash is king! By meeting cash targets, we can increase shareholder value by increasing free cashflow.”
The accounts receivable team was nominated by Gregory Ennis, vice president and controller of finance and accounting.
People and Culture
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to become employer of choice in defense technology”
International Compliance Office (Contracts)
Marcy Knoll
Nominated by Kayla Keel and Amanda Greer
Los Alamos National Laboratory First Production Unit and Beyond Team (Nuclear and Environmental Services)
Kevin Birocco
Timothy Bolen
Darlene Chisholm
Kevin Gallahue
Joseph Noll
Nominated by Mark Davis
DMATs, PMRO, PRESS and PR/CASEVAC Travel Team (C5ISR)
Lisa Helt
Pauline Tudor
Scott Watson
Nominated by William McDonough
******
Growth
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to achieve industry-leading top-line growth”
JNEEO, JIOC-K and TACS (Growth)
Lisa Klisch
Nominated by James Fitzwater
C5ISR Systems 53 S&T / Business Development Team (C5ISR)
Eric Brown
Madison Jaronski
Joseph Johnson
Neil Kuhn
Scott Leonard
Jennifer Super
Jimmy Willard
Nominated by Frank McFalls
Integrated Training Systems Installation and Sustainment (ITSIS) Team (Fleet Sustainment)
Deborah Anderson
Charlene Bradford
Denise Cuevas
Mark Flyge
Melissa Harmon
Natasha Lafon
Rafael Pena
Steven Wacker
Kristina White
James Yohe
Nominated by Timothy McCue and Sabrina Bailey
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Technical Capabilities
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to expand capabilities into higher-end, differentiated solutions”
JSAF Advanced Warfare Scenarios Team (LVC Solutions)
Joseph Chunta
Tien Nhan
Joshua Peterson
Nominated by Shane Smith
CostPoint T&E Upgrade (IT)
Amina Omar
Nominated by Billy Oakes
IONIC Team (Cyber, EW and Space)
James Agius
James Birchfield
James Chandler
Joshua Clum
Katherine Kessler
Douglass Kirkley
Timothy Reardon
Luke Stigdon
Ellen Will
Derek Wright
Nominated by Brett Meyers
Digital Initiatives Team (Unmanned Systems)
Madeline Aitkenhead
Ryan Capozzi
Thomas Cooper
Lee Insley
Theodore Souza
Tim Swierzewski
Nominated by Amanda Costa
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Service Delivery
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to be renowned for ‘best-in-class’ customer experience”
U.S. Army SRD Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Division Support (Cyber, EW and Space)
Michael Brady
Nominated by Jeff Showalter
JIOC-Korea (C5ISR)
Bobby Boquiren
Nominated by James Fitzwater
LRUSV Team (Unmanned Systems)
Kyle Brady
Sean Brown
Scott Corey
Michael Graci
Joshua Kemp
Alejandro Perez
Bryan Perez
Kristopher Sipe
David Summer
Steven Wood
Nominated by Bryan Perez
******
Brand Awareness
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to establish HII as a well-recognized technology solution provider”
Creative & Digital Team (Communications)
Scott Breeden
Rachel Sensale
Jennifer Thompson
Nominated by Jim Roberts
“Finding Your Purpose with HII” (Human Resources)
Matthew Jordan
Darryl Williams
John Young
Nominated by Ricardo Munoz
******
Shareholder Value
For exceptional performance in supporting our goal “to drive shareholder value through growth in earnings and free cash flow.”
Accounts Receivable Team (Finance)
Michele Brandt
Natalie King
Christy Westenhofer
Nominated by Greg Ennis
Date:
October 11, 2024 │ 5-10pm
Attire:
Cocktail/Jacket and tie
Location:
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner
Salon 1 – Sixth Floor
1700 Tysons Boulevard
McLean, Virginia, VA 22102
Sleeping room block now closed. See FAQ below.
PARKING (Free and valet parking available)
1650 Tysons Blvd Garage (Recommended)
Park on third level; take elevator to fourth floor lobby. Take elevator across from front desk to the sixth floor – Salon 1.
1750 Tysons Blvd Garage
Park on first level and enter hotel near valet; take elevator to fourth floor lobby. Take elevator across from front desk to the sixth floor – Salon 1.
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I’m proud to share that I have been selected as a recipient of @MissionTechnologies Impact Awards! This award recognizes teams and individuals whose work has had an impact on our strategic priorities.
Congratulations to all the honorees!
#ImpactAwards2024
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