Hanscom AFB members recognized for excellence in acquisition and leadership

  • Published
  • By K. Houston Waters
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

The assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, along with Air Force Materiel Command, recognized multiple Hanscom Air Force Base team members for excellence in acquisition management.

Military members and Department of the Air Force civilian employees in the Digital Directorate won 2020 Acquisition Excellence and Leadership Awards for outstanding service as program managers and acquisition staff officers. The highly competitive awards recognize individuals and organizations that have exhibited excellence in managing and implementing AF acquisition programs.

“The Digital Directorate really feasted on these 2020 Air Force awards,” said Steven Wert, program executive officer, Digital. “Having this many individuals recognized is a reflection of not just their outstanding accomplishments, but the achievements of the overall team.”

For promoting agile acquisition through collaboration, SAF/AQ and AFMC named Lt. Col. Michael Johnson, materiel leader of the Intel Procurement and Data branch of the Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division, as the Category IV and V Outstanding AF Services Program Manager.

During the year, Johnson led a 106-member joint operation that supported thousands of troops in theater. Johnson also championed an $11 million artificial intelligence project, as well as enabled a one-of-a-kind missile command and control demonstration critical to anti-satellite threat deterrence efforts.

The Outstanding AF Acquisition Staff Officer winner at the AFMC level was Capt. Amanda Rebhi. During the award period, she was responsible for standing up a digital innovation team, assisting in awarding nearly $1 billion to startups, and serving as the technical advisor to AFWERX. She now serves as both the director of engagements and the chief training officer of AFVentures, the venture-oriented division of AFWERX.

AFMC awarded Deborah Bibeau with the Outstanding AF Systems Acquisition Manager Staff Officer award for her work as portfolio manager of Digital’s Program Executive Group. In fiscal year 2020, she drove the rollout of CVR Teams, enabling effective telework for over 3,500 personnel in the directorate. She also led a six-month workload master list clean-up across 298 programs, enabling the directorate to correct hundreds of errors and sync numerous budget, acquisition and manpower databases.

Bibeau now serves as the section chief of the Expeditionary Air Traffic Control Systems Branch, Aerospace Systems Management Division.

AFMC also recognized Grover White as the Category III Outstanding AF Services Program Manager and Lt. Col. Mary Gutierrez, materiel leader, Distributed Common Ground System Brach, as the Category I and III Outstanding AF Services Program Manager.