4th Annual MCA C4 Awards Dinner
The 4th Annual C4 Awards Dinner was held in Arlington, Virginia at the Crystal Gateway Marriott hotel on 15 May 2007. Co-hosted by the Marine Corps Association and HQMC C4 Division, the dinner drew a crowd of over 350 guests who gathered for camaraderie, a great meal, a chance to hear a great guest speaker and the opportunity to see a group of Marines and civilians get well deserved recognition for their superior performance in the C4 community during 2006.
The featured speaker for the event was General Alfred M. Gray, 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps and noted subject matter expert on the subject of command, control, communications, computers and the integration efforts it takes to blend all those concepts and supporting equipment together effectively.
General Gray began his address by lavishing praise on and offering his congratulations to the award recipients for 2006.
Addressing how vital the C4 community is to the Marine Corps, he added that the community should incorporate the information technology and intelligence communities as well to achieve more integrated effectiveness. General Gray stated that the Marine Corps should move beyond C4 and should really have a C4I capability. Indicating that integration was key he pointed amusingly that intelligence without communications was useless and communications without intelligence was merely noise. The crowd loved that witticism.
In a more serious vein, he pointed out that our communications networks are in fact very vulnerable and that we need to invest in planning that allows Marines to be effective without communications and that we need to reinvest in more manual systems like map reading rather than trusting entirely to electronic systems that may go down early in the next conflict.
Turning to the subject of the Marines and sailors serving generally but specifically in the C4 community, General Gray offered his sincere thanks and stated that they were “Simply Magnificent “ and remarkable for how much selflessness there was in the young Marines now serving the country so well. Remarking that he was immensely proud of today’s Marines, General Gray gave the ultimate tribute and said that the Corps was never better because of them.
Turning to the world situation, and particularly the war on terror, he stated that we, the USA and especially the Marines, have an enormous responsibility and that we will be engaged in a long period of conflict likely lasting over a generation. He said it was a very dangerous world where a lot of people don’t like us so we must remain vigilant. In that light, the Marines no longer had a problem with searching for a mission. He predicted the Marine Corps would be busy for many years.
General Gray indicated that he thought the direction our C4 capabilities were heading were correct, that we have and need more interoperability with the Army but that we absolutely needed to remain naval in character.
Digressing a bit, he expressed a strong concern with operational security. With the proliferation of communications nets and widespread use of email, OPSEC seems to be a thing of the past. He warned that we needed to resurrect our security habits.
As a final thought, General Gray stated with great moral authority that Marines needed to take care of each other.
Following General Gray’s remarks, the award presentations for 2006 commenced.
The Gray Trophy for Outstanding Command and Control Systems Leadership was presented to Captain Dale H. Webster, USMC.
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The James Hamilton Information Technology Management Civilian Marine of the Year Award was presented to Mr. Jerry W. Miller.
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The PFC Herbert A. Littleton Staff Non-Commissioned Officer Trophy for Operational Communications Excellence was presented to Staff Sergeant Jennifer K. Richardson, USMC.
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The PFC Herbert A. Littleton Non-Commissioned Officer Trophy for Operational Communications Excellence was presented to Corporal Matthew M. Lee, USMC.
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The PFC Herbert A. Littleton Non-Commissioned Officer Trophy for Electronics Maintenance Excellence was presented to Sergeant Russel H. Greene Jr., USMC.
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The Lt Col Kevin M. Shea Memorial Unit of the Year Award was presented to Communications Platoon, Marine Wing Support Squadron 273, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing.
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Thank you to our MCA C4 Dinner sponsors:
Platinum Gold Sponsors
Platinum Silver Sponsors
Platinum Bronze Sponsors
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
| AT&T Government Solutions | R. Phillips Enterprises |
| BAE Systems | Raytheon -C4 |
| Boeing | Sprint/Nextel |
| CACI | SRA International |
| Cisco | Stanley Group |
| Exeter | Telos |
| Keane Federal Systems | Thales Communications |
| Verizon Wireless |
Program Sponsor: Harris
Wine Sponsor: Tandberg
Special Thanks to:
Supply Core
The Meltzer Group
Logis-Tech
