Tim Sandon receives NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal
L-R, David McBride, AFRC Center Director; Tim Sandon; Robert Lightfoot, NASA Acting Administrator.
Congratulations to Tim for receiving the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal (OPLM). This prestigious NASA medal is awarded to non-Government employees for notable leadership accomplishments that have significantly influenced the NASA mission. Sustained leadership and exceptionally high-impact leadership achievements demonstrate the individual’s effectiveness in advancing the Agency’s goals and image in present and future terms.
The following is an excerpt from Tim Sandon’s NASA OPLM citation:
Tim Sandon has done an outstanding job as the i3 Operations Manager for 28 contractor aircrew at Armstrong Flight Research Center. NASA AFRC could not do their Aeronautics, Airborne Science and Science Exploration’s mission without its contractor aircrew. Mr. Sandon is respected by the aircrew he leads, as well as the i3 and AFRC management.
In order to meet increased demands for additional science aircrew due to increased project load and retirements, Mr. Sandon worked with the i3 lead at his headquarters and was instrumental in the hiring, in-processing, training and oversight of 10 new contractor aircrew in the past year. Mr. Sandon and the upper management team from i3 worked to provide the chief of the AFRC aircrew an incredible group of talented aircrew, and managed to get them hired in time to meet increasing demand, insuring that no missions were canceled for the lack of aircrew.
Contractors can sometimes be put in difficult situations when the government program managers push too hard. The contractor aircrew do a great job of balancing the mission with safety and work-life balance. When the situation gets too difficult, Tim is quick to assist, bringing the issue to the attention of the AFRC Chief Pilot, helping to provide ideas for solutions to resolve any conflict.
As the Chief Flight Engineer for NASA AFRC Tim works tirelessly to recruit and train top talent for our Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft as well as the DC-8. Tim finds incredibly experienced and talented flight engineers and provides outstanding training. The knowledge of the aircraft that these flight engineers possess is critical, flying dynamic missions on older aircraft.
Mr. Sandon embodies the ideals we like to see in a contractor leader. He values the NASA mission and inspires his people to work toward the common goal of mission accomplishment. He is adept at working with his people, his management and NASA AFRC aircrew management to get the very best out of his people for the fulfillment of NASA missions.
Congratulations Tim! Well done!
Col (ret) Doug Brockhard Joins i3
We are pleased to announce that Doug Brockhard has joined the i3 Team. Doug joins us after 25 years of active duty service in the U.S. Army which includes four operational deployments (44 months) to Iraq and Afghanistan at the brigade and battalion levels. He is a Master Army Aviator who is qualified in the UH-1, OH-58, AH-64A, AH-64D and as an UH-60 Door Gunner. Doug Brockhard has served in a myriad of Army Aviation assignments with the 6th Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 21st Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division and on the Army Staff G8 Force Development (Aviation). His last active duty assignment was as the Chief, DoD Red Team, Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Ft. Belvoir, VA.
Doug is a graduate of The Citadel in Charleston, SC and has earned Master Degrees from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, KS and the National Defense University’s Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at Ft. McNair, Washington D.C.
He has completed additional course work with the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security; Program Manager/Project Officer certification through the Defense Acquisition University and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies, Seminar XXI.
As Doug begins his career with i3, he is the Program Manager for our Croatia OH-58D Maintenance and Training Technical Assistance Field Team contract.
He and his family reside in Huntsville, AL.
General (retired) Bill Looney Retirement from i3
General (retired) Bill Looney retired from his position as President of i3 on 1 Sep 2017. Prior to joining i3 as its President in 2012, Bill had a stellar career with the US Air Force. His career started in 1972, including vast accomplishments, numerous honors, and distinguished service, culminating with his retirement as General in 2008.
CEO, Mike Wicks, commented, “Under Bill’s stalwart leadership as President, i3 developed world class flight training capabilities and facilities that have become a cornerstone of our corporate capability. Although Bill is retiring from his day-to-day duties, we are thankful that he will continue his relationship with i3 as an Advisory Board Member and directly involved with i3 International, LLC, which is focused on DCS flight training.”
In a message to i3 employees, Bill stated,
I have been very fortunate to have had two rewarding careers in my life – one with the USAF and one with i3. Both are well led, value based organizations that continually strive to exceed expectations while caring for their most important resource – their people. I have enjoyed my time with i3 tremendously and will miss my fellow team members greatly. I thank each and every one of them for their support over the years and will treasure their friendship and camaraderie always. i3 is a magnificent company destined for a bright future of continued growth and outstanding performance in the years to come.
Bill and his beautiful wife, Marilyn, along with their wonderful family, are avid travelers and have many more family vacations planned in the near future. Thank you General Looney for your dedicated service to both our country and to our company.
Rich Kretzschmar joins i3 as Director of Strategic Development
Rich Kretzschmar joins Integration Innovation, Inc. (i3) as Director of Strategic Development with responsibility for supporting our broad array of Department of Defense & Commercial Clients. Rich is a member of the i3 Leadership Team & supports the CEO, President, and COO in corporate strategy and new market development.
Prior to joining i3, Rich served as the acting Deputy Program Executive Officer for Aviation. He possesses twenty-seven years of aerospace engineering and program acquisition experience encompassing a variety of missile, rotary and fixed wing aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems. He is acknowledged throughout the world for both his technical and management expertise related to major weapon system development and acquisition.
An aerodynamicist by training, Rich joined the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) in 1992 and served in a variety of technical leadership positions. He transitioned to PEO Aviation in 2011 and served in leadership roles for several of PEO Aviation highest priority programs including Deputy Project Manager, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Project Manager for the Improved Turbine Engine and Future Vertical Lift Programs.
Mr. Kretzschmar holds both BS and MS degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University and an MA degree in Business Administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is level III certified in Program Management and Advanced System Engineering, Research, Development and Engineering career fields. Rich has won numerous awards including The Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2017), The Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award (2015), the Army Aviation Association of America 2014 Department of the Army Civilian of the Year Award, the 2014 Association of the United States Army (Redstone Chapter) Civilian of the Year, the Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (2012) and the 2004 Outstanding Young Auburn Engineer Award.
i3 Trains Croatian Air Force on OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Helicopter
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The leadership and Global Flight Training team at Huntsville’s Integration Innovation, Inc. (i3) reports the on-schedule start of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Pilot Training Phase for the Croatian Air Force at Zemunik Airbase, Zadar, Croatia.
The program is administered by the US Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) Security Assistance Training Management Organization (SATMO) based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Per a tailored and comprehensive training program, i3 began the Maintainer Training Phase in 2017. The train-the-trainer pilot phase includes aircraft and instructor pilot qualification in the OH-58D light attack/ reconnaissance aircraft, single- and multi-ship live-fire gunnery training, tactics training, high altitude/ mountain environmental training, and the maintenance test pilot course. i3 also provides Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) maintenance for the aircraft during the training program.
Greg Carl joins i3 as Director of Integrated Security Services
Greg Carl joins Integration Innovation, Inc. (i3) as Director of Integrated Security Services with responsibility for supporting our Department of Defense/National Security & Commercial Clients. Greg is a member of the i3 Leadership Team & supports the CEO, President, and COO with Thought Leadership/Strategy & Collaboration on New Markets.
Prior to joining i3, Greg served as the Director of the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC) for which he was one of the original architects. He is acknowledged throughout the world for both his explosives expertise and his leadership in related counterterrorism matters. Greg joined the FBI in 1987 and in 1990 was appointed to the position of Special Agent assigned to the Miami Division. In 1996 he was reassigned to the FBI Laboratory’s Explosives Unit as an Explosives and Hazardous Devices Examiner. Greg was a Special Agent Bomb Technician for over 20 years.
Greg’s expertise has been utilized in some of the nation’s most well-known terrorist attacks such as the Shoe Bomber Case, the Oklahoma City Bombing Case, the World Trade Center Bombing Case in 1993, the Underwear Bomber Case in 2009, and the Boston Marathon Bombing Case in 2013, to name a few. Greg earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Susquehanna University and a Master’s Degree from George Washington University. He has received various awards throughout his career to include the US Attorney’s Award for Outstanding Contributions in Law Enforcement in 2002 and the Director’s Award for Outstanding Technical Advancement in 2008 and in 2012 for Excellence in Investigative Support. He is also a member of the International Association for Chief’s of Police, Arson and Explosives Committee and the International Association for Bomb Technicians and Investigators.
i3 Wins 2017 “Best Places to Work” Award!
Best Places to Work® is an annual signature event sponsored by the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce and it showcases the “best of the best” Chamber member businesses in the Tennessee Valley. i3 is a recipient of the 2017 Best Places to Work recognizing a great workplace culture through employee engagement, strong leadership and excellent communication.
We are honored and humbled to be a recipient of this prestigious award.
Congratulations to the entire i3 Team!
i3 Reservist wraps up two-year mobilization, supports OIR in Turkey
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BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. —
Over the past two years, Individual Mobilization Augmentee Col. Carl Magnusson has travelled the globe in support of a variety of U.S. operations.
The U.S. Pacific Command Air Force Reservist has seen Japan, the Philippines, and Mongolia as a joint exercise control group director, and most recently, Kuwait and Turkey, where he supported Operation Inherent Resolve.
As an IMA, Magnusson is assigned to US PACOM’s Operations Directorate. As a reservist, it’s his job to augment PACOM exercises. After talking things over with his family, he decided that 2015 was his turn to step up and let PACOM utilize his expertise full-time. He saw the 365-day voluntary mobilization as an opportunity to put all his training to use but he had no idea it would turn out the way it did. Two years and three extensions later, he says he has realized Reservists need to be flexible and ready to serve when and where they are called.
“Many of our partner nations put great stock in interpersonal relationships,” he said. “We still have many friends at the personal level within the Turkish military, which is an important partner and ally.” Looking back on his experiences of the last two years, especially the deployment to Turkey, Magnusson said he has a better understanding of geopolitics and has a deeper appreciation of our contributions and sacrifices in Northern Syria and Iraq.
i3 Reservist wraps up two-year mobilization
i3 Leads Tunisian Air Force Training Effort, i3 President Gen. William Looney Congratulates Graduates
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Tunisian Airforce Graduation – Redstone Rocket
Fifty-five foreign air force members have graduated a months-long training course on the OH-58D Kiowa during a ceremony at the Performing Arts Center of the Eastern New Mexico University in Roswell, New Mexico.
The pilots and maintenance crew members from the Tunisian Air Force received training on the armed reconnaissance helicopter at the Roswell International Air Center as part of a foreign military sales case managed by the Security Assistance Command.
“This graduation brings together Tunisia’s capability of integrating air-ground operations utilizing the Bell Helicopter OH-58 Kiowa Warrior for observation, utility, and direct fire support” said Col. William Krahling, USASAC’s director of EUCOM/AFRICOM regional operations.
“This is much more than a delivery of aircraft to a partner nation. It is not just about hardware.” Krahling said. “The aircraft and training provides a long term, and hopefully enduring relationship with an important international partner that have been a valued partner since our first trade agreement when our nation was young.”
“USASAC activities play a critical role in U.S. foreign policy by ensuring the safety of not only our men and women in uniform, but also our interoperability with our military partners as they ensure the security of their own sovereign nations around the world,” Krahling said. “While graduations like these are an important milestone, it is just the beginning of a new phase of the continued challenge to ensure stability in Tunisia and here at home in our fight against terrorism.”
i3 awarded Prime Contract to support the Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
Integration Innovation, Inc. (i3) announced today it was awarded a prime contract to support the Army Research Laboratory’s Persistent Surveillance – Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (PS-ISR) Concept Development program, providing a variety of technology support to include analysis, studies, development, design, and demonstration of innovative Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) concepts and technologies to meet future asymmetric, counter-terrorism, and counter-insurgency warfare scenarios. The multiple-award, Indefinite Delivery and Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract has a five-year base period of performance, and a total contract value of $49 million.
“We’re excited to be awarded this prime position for concept development and we are pleased to provide the Army Research Laboratory with mission-critical support” said Mike Wicks, the Chief Executive Officer of i3.
i3, along with our team members Primal Innovation LLC, SynGlphX, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Hewlett Packard, will compete for task orders to provide Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in technologies to include sensors, cloud computing, multi-source data fusion, munitions detection systems, Signal Processing Tools and concepts, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) tool automation capabilities, and Counter Improvise Explosive Devices (CIED) technologies/systems in asymmetric, counter-terrorism, and counter-insurgency warfare scenarios. These technologies will convert sensor data and intelligence data to actionable intelligence and enable informed, real-time decisions critical to the warfighter.
The mission of the ARL SEDD is to research, develop, and demonstrate sensors, and electron devices to ensure U.S. military superiority and to provide the U.S Army with effective intelligence and information tools, guaranteeing our soldiers’ the information dominance needed on today’s battlefield.
