FORT HOOD, Texas – The Central Technical Support Facility acting director Mr. Lawrence Kocian relinquished leadership of the command to Col. Joel Greer during an Assumption of Responsibility ceremony at Fort Hood, Sept. 16. Commander of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Maj. Gen. Robert Edmonson II officially presided over the ceremony. CECOM Command Sgt. Maj. Kristie Brady also represented CECOM headquarters. The event was open to a limited number of family guests and was broadcast via Microsoft Teams.
After thanking those in attendance, Edmonson put into context the significance of the day’s event.
“This ceremony is an important time to honor Mr. Kocian and Col. Greer, and perhaps even more importantly, to thank their families who stand by them during all of the transitions or obstacles they may face,” said Edmonson. “Today’s ceremony is a win-win in that we not only get to welcome Col. Greer; but Mr. Kocian, thankfully, will not be leaving us, and instead resuming his important role as deputy director.”
Edmonson then took time to welcome special attendees and reflect on his recent meeting with the two CTSF leaders and their respective families.
Edmonson expressed his gratitude to the great work Kocian did in his relatively short time while serving as CTSF’s acting director. According to Edmonson, some of CTSF’s accomplishments under Kocian’s guidance included: maintaining modernization as a top priority, leading the CTSF team in completing Army Interoperability Certifications and vast campus improvement initiatives, and continual support of the Defense Acquisition University.
“These accomplishments are a testament to not only you as a leader but to the importance of our Civilian Corps as a whole,” Edmonson explained. “Providing much needed continuity to our enterprise.”
Mr. Kocian thanked Edmonson for his leadership and his command for their resiliency, hard work and dedication to the command and its unique mission. “I am grateful to serve with such a highly professional team,” Kocian said. “The ability to take on any task, and successfully complete the mission, even working under constraints, such as the COVID epidemic, and always maintaining focus on improving Army warfighter capabilities.”
Greer also thanked Edmonson for his support and leadership, before thanking Mr. Kocian for making his transition as CTSF director go smoothly. Greer expressed his excitement and gratitude, and anticipation of working with the CTSF team Mr. Kocian spoke so highly of.
“I am pleased with the passion that the CTSF workforce has for the job they do,” Greer stated. “Whether it’s the DA civilians, numerous contractors or Soldiers. They all are passionate about supporting the warfighter and doing their job!”
Greer assumed duties as the 11th Director of the CTSF after departing from his prior position as commander of the 418th Contracting Support Brigade in Fort Hood. He was commissioned in 1995 as an Ordnance Officer through the Army Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia. During his long and decorated military career, Greer has gained vast experience in the contracting world with deployments to Victory Base, Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he served as a Contracting Officer and Operations Officer in the Joint Contracting Command in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He has also deployed to Pakistan where he served as the Chief of Contracting for the Office of the Defense Representative.
This change in leadership, or “passing of the colors” signifies the orderly transfer of responsibility not only for CTSF’s military and civilian personnel, but also the responsibility for its mission of providing configuration management, system-of-systems integration, and training and interoperability testing for the Army and joint force.
CECOM has several facilities and units located strategically across the country in addition to those at its headquarters at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), including CTSF.
Established in 1996, CTSF is the Army’s strategic and central testing facility responsible for interoperability engineering, executing Army Interoperability Certification, or AIC, testing, maintaining configuration control for all operational through tactical-level information technology/national security systems, and supporting the digital needs of deployed warfighters. CTSF initially served as a center for rapid development and testing of Army Battle Command Systems (ABCS) and to support early digitization exercises at Fort Hood. Staffed by more than 125 military personnel, Army civilians and support contractors, the CTSF is a collaborative environment also serving as home to more than 300 personnel representing Army product and program management teams who develop and field network product lines that support the Army’s Mission Command Network. These organizations execute other activities including regional support, fielding, training, and operational testing from the CTSF location. Today, the CTSF replicates current and emerging Army network baselines to ensure Army Interoperability Certification of software, in other words, testing new software to ensure it is ready to integrate into operational unit networks. As an end product, CTSF experts provide reasonable assurance that the various software baselines are interoperable prior to fielding, a comprehensive look at the cyber security posture of systems across the Army and assurance of software integration readiness—ultimately helping to provide a less complex product to operational units.
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