Kwajalein Atoll -- Col. Kirk Bruno, commander of the Defense Information System Agency Pacific, together with his deputy Bruce Morgan, Lt. Cmdr. Regina Cox and Chief Master Sgt. Doug Walker, traveled to Kwajalein to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Kwajalein Cable System on April 1.
Acting USAKA commander, Lt. Col. Tijuana Collier, welcomed attendees to the ceremony. "Thank you for coming this morning. Col. Bruno brought out his team to join in cutting the ribbon to mark this huge Kwajalein Cable System project that Marc Johnson, USAKA/RTS project lead, has been working on. It's a project that has been going on for almost six years."
After Collier introduced him to the gathering, Johnson said, "This is a great day. This has been four and a half years coming for me, and folks worked on it before I had it. This is a day that celebrates success and that success is largely due in part to the business team and their dedication in meeting USAKA requirements for this fiber system. All of the team members I have worked with, bar none, have been outstanding, top-notch individuals. You've got great people. We look forward to the possibilities this cable system will enable for USAKA/RTS."
Bruno then addressed the gathering. "I just want to say thanks for making this project a reality for us. The commissioning is a great day and a historic moment here on Kwajalein. As Mark said, it's a culmination of an effort of more than five years. It's the culmination of a project we could not have accomplished without our mission partners, the folks at USAKA and Army Space and Missile Defense Command. We also couldn't have done it without our corporate partners who took the lead in laying the cable. Without them, none of this could have been done.
He added, "After sometimes doubting whether I would actually see this in my lifetime, it's finally come through."
Bruno said the cable system presented great opportunities and possibilities and would enhance the core mission of Kwajalein. He said it will benefit the economy and education of other neighboring islands as well.
"It truly does give me pleasure to see our efforts come to fruition," said the colonel. "It spans more than 1,600 miles and will provide a more reliable, robust and secure capable network that will allow for distributed operations wherever you may be sitting in the world."
Bruno then invited the four "major players," Cox, Johnson, Morgan and David Seeyle, to join him in cutting the ribbon.
While the group was on Kwajalein, they saw where the cable came ashore and they toured the power plant and range radio/communications facilities.
They were also given a classified space briefing during their visit.
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