Doug Lee knows there is a time within every organization when new leadership needs to step up.
But, for that to happen, an organization's existing leaders must create leadership opportunities.
Whether it's time or not, Lee, the deputy director of the Aviation and Missile Command's G2 (Intelligence and Security), sees his upcoming retirement as a way to step back and let others lead. His nearly 40 years of military and civilian government service will be celebrated on April 21 during a retirement luncheon at The Overlook.
"We've trained a lot of fantastic employees in-house to be our next leaders," Lee said. "In the Intelligence and Security world, we have some of the most elite people in this business. We have the highest percentage of our security workforce certified under the now required Security Professional Education Program of any other organization in the Army.
"We've trained our people right. They are professionals and are our future leaders. I feel proud of our successes and very comfortable about the G-2's role in AMCOM's future."
Recent accolades for the AMCOM G-2 have come from Department of Defense-level senior leaders, who recognized AMCOM as the only command that provides the most correct Threat support to the acquisition community; and from Army Acquisition executive Katrina McFarland, who was recently briefed by the AMCOM G2 on the current Missiles and Space Systems Threat.
"She stated that it was great and that this is the way Threat should be briefed," Lee said.
The AMCOM G2 provides support to the command in the areas of Information Security, Personnel Security, Industrial Security, Foreign Disclosure, Intelligence and Special Security. It provides situational awareness of world events that have the potential to result in the deployment of AMCOM assets (personnel, facilities and equipment) or to harm those assets already deployed; supports legacy and developing army missile and aviation weapon systems in the areas of countermeasures, targets and parallel technology development; and safeguards classified and sensitive information and materiel.
The AMCOM G2 staff of 100-plus employees has 75 percent of those employees assigned to Security and the other 25 percent to Intelligence. The AMCOM G2 staff provides Intelligence and Security support to not only AMCOM but also to the Program Executive Offices for Aviation, and Missiles and Space.
While Lee is confident the G2 staff will continue to provide the best in Security and Intelligence for the benefit of the command, the warfighter and the nation, he said that keeping the nation's technological advantage with its weapon systems also relies on the security practiced by each AMCOM employee.
"The workforce needs to be aware that they also must remain vigilant in maintaining a good security posture if we are going to maintain our advantage with our weapon systems," he said.
As the G-2's deputy director for the last eight years, Lee has overseen the management of personnel hires, evaluations, awards and other personnel actions, travel, credit cards, budget matters and strategic planning -- what Lee describes as the "business side" of the G2.
But, most of Lee's two careers -- one as a Soldier and the other as a civil servant -- have been working Intelligence for the Joint and Army communities.
"There's a great amount of satisfaction in this line of work. As an Intelligence analyst and leader I have always prided myself in being able to make the right call when providing actionable Intelligence to a commander," he said.
Lee has provided intelligence to commanders and troops across the full spectrum of conflict: Indications and Warning, Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, Noncombatant Evacuation Operations, Counterinsurgencies, Limited Conflict and Major Theater War. One of his most challenging and rewarding experiences was writing Military Capabilities Studies for both Poland and the Czech Republic that were subsequently used as the primary resource document by the NATO Counsel during the successful accession deliberations for those two nations.
"I've enjoyed Intelligence work to this day, and will always miss that part of the job," he said.
This is Lee's second go around with retirement. A Vietnam War era veteran, Lee retired from the Army in 2000 after 26 years of service, with 17 of those years as an officer.
After two years of college, I enlisted in 1971 in artillery, combat arms. My father was a sergeant major in the Army. He didn't recommend or coax me into it, but I have always felt like the Army is where I needed to be," he said.
"I went through what is called 'Shake-n-Bake Course.' It's a 28-week course that makes you an instant non-commissioned officer. Vietnam was trailing off. But there weren't enough NCOs staying in, so they needed Soldiers like me to step up. Of the 50 in my class, 25 got orders to go to Vietnam. Only two actually went. I expressed my desire to go. I was trained for it and I knew it was something I wanted to do. And, as a typical young trooper, I wanted to get over there and take advantage of the fantastic prices on stereo equipment."
Instead, he went to Germany, completed his enlistment and then left the Army to work in the airline industry. Ten years later, Lee, now in his 30s, went back to college on the G.I. Bill and as an ROTC cadet. He graduated from Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colo., in 1983 as a distinguished military graduate with a Political Science degree.
"I chose Military Intelligence as my branch because it sounded like an exciting and romantic thing to do," Lee said, with a smile. "But it turned out that I enjoyed it very much as a career. I wanted to support the combat side with the best Intelligence I could provide."
He worked in Threat Intelligence at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and as a Cavalry Squadron S-2, Military Intelligence company commander, and Aviation Brigade S-2 at Fort Carson, Colo., with international assignments to Germany, Korea, and to the European Command's Joint Analysis Center at the Royal Air Force Molesworth, United Kingdom, where he analyzed Intelligence from Iraq, Eastern Europe and the Balkans and deployed as the senior analyst for the U.S. National Intelligence Center to Sarajevo, and as the Theater Intelligence Support team leader in Macedonia and Kosovo.
"We worked analyzing Human Intelligence, Signals Intelligence, Measurement and Signatures Intelligence and Imagery Intelligence. We fused that information to provide continuous updates to the commander so that he could make informed decisions," Lee said.
During his years with the Army, he saw how technology changed the way Intelligence was gathered and analyzed.
"There has been a major improvement in collection capabilities as well as the communication links to disseminate that intelligence," Lee said. "It's amazing to see the vast amount of Intelligence that is out there. The amount of Intelligence gathered has improved so greatly that it is now almost impossible to sift through it all and find all the nuggets that provide important pieces to the puzzle."
"Intelligence and the way you gather Intelligence is always improving. If it doesn't, you won't be able to stay on top of the game. Terrorists, and all adversaries for that matter, are always improving their capabilities to evade detection, and we have to keep looking for better ways to find the indicators that provide information or clues as to what terrorists or the enemy are doing."
Lee's last Army assignment brought him to Alabama, where he worked in Birmingham as a National Guard advisor with the 1st Brigade (Simulations), 87th Division (Training). After retirement, he was hired as a senior member of the technical staff at TASC/Northrop Grumman, a position that brought him to Huntsville.
Two years later, in 2002, he became the physical security officer at the Space and Missile Defense Command. "I enjoyed working as a government employee with SMDC, but my first love was Intelligence. The opportunity to come to AMCOM and work again in Intelligence was one that I couldn't refuse," Lee said.
In May 2003, Lee became the chief of the Current Intelligence Section at AMCOM G2. Just as he was settling in to the hands-on work that he so much enjoyed, he was soon promoted to chief of the Intelligence Division.
"Our primary concern is providing situational awareness to the command regarding international and current events that could affect decisions," he said. "We provide analysis of the foreign threat with regard to Force Protection, and to all aviation and missile weapon systems."
AMCOM G2 Intelligence personnel also provide products that ensure senior leaders have the latest Intelligence on developing threats, and the changes that need to be made to U.S. aviation and missile systems to counter that threat.
Three years later, Lee took over as G2's deputy director, but has kept involved in the Intelligence side of the G2. He believes in the right for the government to collect Intelligence.
"The government is out there trying to protect citizens. As long as we have ethical individuals running our government agencies and a President and Congress that uphold their responsibility to ensure the security of our nation, then our Intelligence community will continue to provide the information our leaders need to make the right decisions," he said.
Lee and wife Terri will be retiring to northwestern Arkansas, where they have built a home so they can enjoy the culture, fishing and other outdoor activities of the area. They plan on remaining active in outdoor recreation, traveling, visiting historical sites throughout the U.S. and visiting family, including their four children and five grandchildren.
"Terri has always supported me in my efforts to give my best to government service," Lee said. "It is now time to enjoy the slower pace of retirement and focus on some of the things we were unable to do when we were working."
As new leaders take the helm at AMCOM G2, Lee knows Intelligence and Security services will continue to provide information needed to keep AMCOM assets, and its employees and leaders well protected.
"Commanders are better commanders if they know what is going on around them, when they are situationally aware," he said.
"The G2 is customer-service oriented. We have always prided ourselves on providing the best service in the way of advice and information. We do everything we can to make the command more informed, more vigilant and more secure. That's an attitude that is very much part of our entire workforce and one that we take very seriously."
Editor's Note: To make a reservation for Doug Lee's retirement luncheon on April 21, call Joy Hetler at 876-8143.
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