REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- It's back to school for the Aviation and Missile Command's long-time Intelligence and Security director Keith Ryan.
During his Army military and civilian careers in Intelligence and Security, Ryan earned operational and intelligence graduation certificates from quite a few prestigious educational programs, including the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellows Program and the CIA University Intelligence Community Officer Course. He will add yet another impressive educational achievement to his resume in about 10 months when he graduates from the Army War College in Carlisle, Penn.
Ryan has given up his 15-year career as AMCOM's Intelligence and Security (G-2) director to further his career as an Army leader. At the Army War College, Ryan will be among 30 government civilians (13 of those from the Army) working side-by-side with about 400 senior military officers and international students to take on graduate-level instruction to prepare them for senior leadership assignments and responsibilities. Ryan and his fellow students will earn a master's degree in Strategic Studies along with a new senior assignment within the Army's civilian ranks.
"I've told my folks many times that if you want to get promoted, if you want to get ahead, you've got to move on, you can't stay in the same position," said Ryan, who leaves for the War College this week.
"That works for me, too. It's time for me to take my own advice. I've still got a lot to contribute and a long way to go. I'm not ready to retire yet. My wife Debbie, who has been my best friend and partner for over 36 years, and I made the decision that it is time for us to go and do something different."
Ryan has led a staff of about 110 Intelligence and Security employees -- the largest at Redsotne Arsenal -- since becoming the director in 2003, overseeing their work as they have provided support for AMCOM, and the program executive offices for Aviation, and Missiles and Space delivering responsive sustainment and enabling readiness for the Army's aviation and missile systems.
"We know this is leading to something good on the horizon," said AMCOM commander Maj. Gen. Douglas Gabram during an awards ceremony where Ryan received an Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for leading efforts in the Army Materiel Command Intelligence and Security inspection and a Commander's Award for Civilian Service for 15 years of service to AMCOM.
"I want to personally thank you for your achievement, service and leadership. The G2 here is absolutely outstanding, and your name always rises to the top of the list for professionalism and doing a great job."
Ryan began his career in Intelligence and Security in 1981 after graduating from St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire with a Distinguished Military Graduate distinction from the University of New Hampshire ROTC program.
"I am from a family of 11 kids and we were raised by only our mother. We were underprivileged and, after two years of college, I couldn't afford the college tuition," Ryan said. "A friend of mine suggested I go to the ROTC summer camp at Fort Know, Ky. I was among 500 college kids who went out to Fort Knox in the summer of 1979 to participate in ROTC basic training and to compete for about 70 scholarships. Two weeks after returning home, I received a letter in the mail that said I'd been selected for one of those ROTC two-year scholarships."
As a criminal justice major, he was selected for the Military Intelligence Branch, going to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., for training. He served in Military Intelligence in Alaska; at Fort Bragg, N.C.; and in Germany, where he deployed with the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Armored Division, to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm; and in Key West, where he served on the Joint Interagency Task Force -- East as the Intelligence Collection manager in the fight against the illegal introduction of drugs into the U.S.
Ryan and his wife, and two children moved to Huntsville in 1998, where Ryan was assigned the Space and Missile Defense Command as the assistant deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence. He retired from active duty in June 2001 after 20 years with plans to join his oldest brother in a business proposition in Texas. But his brother's sudden death from melanoma changed those plans. Ryan worked as an Intelligence and Security contractor in Huntsville for about six months before he was hired as a civil servant in September 2001 to serve as AMCOM's G-2 Intelligence Division chief.
"Intelligence and Security is what I knew, is what I did for 20 years on active duty," Ryan said.
"I came into the civilian workforce right after Sept. 11. That was a time of big change for Intelligence and Security. As the new Intelligence Division chief we had a lot of work to do to improve our processes to be more conducive to effectiveness. We implemented continuous improvement processes right away. There were numerous Equal Employment Opportunity complaints that I had to address as well as providing new leadership for employees."
All that was happening at a time when AMCOM leadership was demanding more support from Intelligence and Security as a result of Sept. 11.
"We were briefing the chief of staff and commanding general twice daily. I went right back into the thick of things like I had been when I was on active duty," Ryan said. "We had real-world concerns. I felt like what we were doing was worthwhile, that it really had a purpose. Not much has changed since then. We are still working to provide real-world information to leadership. We are still at war."
Ryan's contribution to the professionalism and employee morale of the G-2 was so impressive that AMCOM leadership decided to convert the Intelligence and Security director from a billet for a colonel to a civilian position. About a year and a half after coming to AMCOM, Ryan was selected as the civilian director of Intelligence and Security.
"One of the first things I did was make our security specialists multi-disciplined so they could fulfill all aspects of the command's security requirements. I wanted to make sure all of our employees got the training they deserved to be professionals. With such a big organization and with our support to both AMCOM and the program executive offices, our employees have an opportunity to further develop their skills right here inside of AMCOM," Ryan said.
"Our office of 110 employees is like a bank of higher level professionally trained employees that AMCOM organizations can tap into as well as a source of qualified employees that every organization on Redstone Arsenal can draw from. I believe we have raised the bar for Intelligence and Security professionals for the entire Arsenal as well as the entire profession."
Besides providing intelligence on the current world situation to AMCOM leadership, Intelligence and Security employees also provide intelligence and system threat assessment reports to AMCOM acquisition programs supporting the development of weapon systems within the PEOs and assigned Program Offices. Those reports are critical in helping acquisition leaders make better, informed decisions on the development of friendly systems by knowing and understanding the threats to their systems. In so doing, acquisition programs develop improved and superior aviation and missile systems to defeat our enemies.
"We provide situational awareness and threat support analysis so that aviation and missile systems can be designed, built and acquired based on what's going on in theater and based on our adversaries capabilities. In acquisition and logistics, Intelligence and Security are number one considerations," Ryan said.
"Our employees aren't engineers, but they work with engineers and they have to know enough about the technical aspects of a system and what is out there in the world so that they can ensure our programs can develop countermeasures for our systems based on the threats we face. Our employees provide the kind of information that decision makers need for decisions before an aviation or missile system can move forward to the next level in the life cycle. Everything starts with a threat. Intelligence and Security drive operations. We have to understand the threat capabilities and understand our systems so that we can be successful in providing threat support and analysis to our acquisition and logistics customers."
At the Army War College, Ryan will be studying the development and employment of landpower in joint, multinational and interagency operational environments; conducting research on national security and military strategy; as well as engaging in activities related to the responsibilities of strategic leadership. Once he completes his studies, Ryan hopes to be assigned to a post in Germany or Texas.
"I'm ready for a change. I'm ready to do something completely different," Ryan said. "I'm all in. My wife is all in. We have faith this will work out. Things happen for a reason. What we do in Intelligence and Security saves lives and makes a difference. I love what I do, and I can still make a difference and continue to serve. Wherever I end up after the War College, I hope to continue to contribute, teach and mentor."
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