Intercepts

C4I Officer of the Year

Marine Capt. Charles Walker, a command and control systems officer with

the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, received the Gen. Alfred M. Gray Trophy

on July 29 for outstanding command and control leadership. The award makes

Walker the Marine Corps' C4I officer of the year.

Gen. James Jones, commandant of the Marine Corps, cited Walker's "boundless

energy, technical knowledge and personal initiative" in planning and coordinating

communications systems in support of Marine Corps exercises in the Pacific.

Beginning this year, Marines in the 0602 communications occupational specialty

and those who held that billet during the prior calendar year may be nominated

for the trophy. The Sprint Foundation provided a grant to the Marine Corps

University Foundation to sponsor the award.

The Dual-Hat Dance...

...Is getting tiresome for the Marine Corps' director of C4I. My Henderson

Hall outpost reports that not only have the Marines received a new C4I director

in Brig. Gen. (select) Michael Ennis, but they also are about to get a new

director of intelligence — the first in more than a decade. Jones recently

established an Intelligence Department within Marine Corps Headquarters.

However, the C4I director will no longer have to split his time between

"C4" and "I." This summer, the Corps plans to name its first director of

intelligence. Who knows, he or she might even be an intelligence officer,

rather than an infantry officer retread. Maybe I'll really go out on a limb

and bet that he or she will have a communications and computer background

too!

The Bottom Line @ CIA

The CIA's online advertisement for clandestine service operatives paints

a glamorous picture of life as a spy. "For the extraordinary individual

who wants more than just a job, this is a unique career — a way of life

that will challenge the deepest resources of your intelligence, self- reliance

and responsibility," the advertisement reads (see story, Page 26).

However, my Langley, Va., listening post recently reported that this

is actually an encrypted message. The translation reads: "Don't expect to

be paid much." According to one long-time CIA type, the salaries in the

Directorate of Operations do, in fact, lag one or two pay grades behind

the directorates of science and technology and intelligence for equivalent

qualifications and experience.

Retired Intelligence

The intelligence community has made its decision: Stick with what you

know and hire retirees to keep the current generation of pony tail- sporting

techies under control. First there was the National Security Agency, which

rehired one of its own retirees, William Black Jr., to be its next deputy

director. Then NSA decided to bring retired Maj. Gen. Harry Gatanas in as

its new senior acquisition executive.

However, my Langley receive station reports that concerns are high that

the retiree bug could infect the minds of some at the CIA and their bosses

in the White House when the administration changes in November.

Some think that the incumbent CIA director George Tenet has the best

chance of getting the job under the next administration. However, given

the intelligence community's love affair with recruiting old blood, the

next thing you know, the new administration will be resurrecting the likes

of former CIA chiefs William Casey and Allen Dulles. I don't think they're

available.

Alphabet Soup

Rumors that the Marine Corps is considering its own version of the Navy/Marine

Corps Intranet have some business types pondering the fallout if such a

rumor proves to be true. One of the best theories to come across the Interceptor's

desk in the past few weeks goes something like this: If the USMC goes its

own way on N/MCI, it would create the MCI. And because Sprint is the premier

communications provider at the Marine outpost at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it

might pave the way for an actual MCI/Sprint merger.

Intercept something? Send it to antenna@fcw.com.