Defensive Cyber Operations Holds Charter Ceremonies

PEO EIS’s Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) project management office hosted two charter ceremonies during the first half of July.

Lt. Col. Dakota Steedsman assumed command of DCO’s Cyber Analytics and Detection (CAD) product office during a change of charter ceremony July 9, replacing Lt. Col. Leilani Tydingco-Amarante. During the event, DCO project manager Col. Mark Taylor presented Tydingco-Amarante with the Meritorious Service Medal for leading her team through several critical milestones and enabling the DOD to rapidly respond to unexpected and dynamic cyberspace situations.

Noting that Tydingco-Amarante was the first product manager for CAD, Taylor credited her for successfully continuing to build and modernize the Army’s big data platform known as Gabriel Nimbus, overseeing an effort to develop a secure data and text exchange capability for cyber warriors, delivering a DCO mission planning capability and facilitating an award for a threat emulation suite of tools.

Tydingco-Amarante, who was selected for promotion to colonel, is assuming a position at the Pentagon as military deputy to the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for plans, programs and resources.

Steedsman, the incoming CAD product manager, previously served as an operations officer for a special mission unit with the Special Management Division at the Pentagon. He now will be charged with overseeing a team responsible for helping Soldiers analyze and detect external and internal cyber threats to the Army.

One week after the CAD ceremony — on July 16 — DCO held a relinquishment of charter ceremony for its Allied Information Technology (AIT) product office. During the ceremony, DCO project manager Taylor presented Andrew Strand, outgoing AIT product lead, with the Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

Crediting Strand — who will attend Senior Service College — for being one of the “fathers of AIT,” Taylor thanked him for his many accomplishments, including making quantifiable impacts in the deterrence of Russia across numerous nations in Eastern Europe, building partner capacity in the U.S. Central Command, and developing relationships in the U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Taylor congratulated AIT’s deputy product lead, Brian Bricker, on his new role as acting product lead. Bricker will be responsible for providing leadership and guidance to a team that supports mutual U.S. and allied interests by strengthening bilateral defense partnerships, enhancing coalition building through interoperability, and increasing the readiness of U.S. partners.