TRUST THE PROCESS L KEVIN KIRKWOOD II
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: C5ISR Center’s Product Realization Systems Engi- neering and Quality Directorate (PRD), U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, U.S. Army Futures Command
TITLE: Acting deputy product lead, Aero- stats; branch chief, Electronic Sensors
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 12
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level III in engineering
EDUCATION: Currently pursuing Master of Engineering degree in systems engineer- ing, Stevens Institute of Technology; B.S. in electrical engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Systems Supportability Engineer- ing Certificate, Stevens Institute of Technology
AWARDS: Black Engineer of the Year Award, Medallion of Excellence from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology; Medallion of Excellence from the Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Forces – Afghanistan; Commander’s Award for Civilian Service; Civilian Service Award (2); Certificate of Appreciation, C5ISR Center PRD
et’s be clear: An aerostat is more than just a blimp. Explaining that is a task that often falls to Kevin Kirkwood, deputy product lead for Aerostats within the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S). Kirkwood leads a team of roughly 90 materiel developers for
the platform, which carries different types of sensors to altitudes of up to 5,000 feet to provide overwatch for military support. “Many people see the aerostat, associate it with a blimp and then merely think of it as a floating balloon,” he said. “In reality, it’s an extremely dynamic system of systems that requires intensive management to ensure that modifications made to the system are cohesive and continue to carry out their functions. Also surprising are the many functions the system provides simultaneously: communications relay, multiple-domain networking, detections of all types, support for processing exploitation and dissemination activities, GPS processing, targeting and more. It is one of the key assets in force protection for our forward-deployed Soldiers, civilians and contractors.”
Kirkwood’s work puts him face-to-face with Soldiers in a variety of environments. Tat direct engagement “has positioned my team and me with a better understanding of warfighter requirements, and it demonstrates the commitment the program office main- tains. It’s also one of the privileges I’m most thankful for in my career,” he said.
While he supports PEO IEW&S, Kirkwood is actually assigned to the C5ISR Center’s Product Realization Systems Engineering and Quality Directorate (PRD) within the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. Federal service is pretty much the Kirkwood family business: His mother is a former federal employee, and all of her six siblings served in the military. Kirkwood’s uncle, Lt. Gen. Robert S. Ferrell (USA, Ret.), was the Army chief information officer/G-6 and commander of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. His aunt, Monique Y. Ferrell, is principal deputy auditor general for the U.S. Army Audit Agency at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Kirkwood’s wife works for the CECOM Security Assistance Management Directorate, to which one of his brothers is assigned (while he works for the C5ISR Center PRD). Kirkwood started his federal acquisition career with the CECOM directorate in 2007, assigned from the C5ISR Center PRD as a communications-electronics engineer and assisting in the oversight of foreign mate- riel sales acquisitions.
“Te most rewarding times were when I had an opportunity to travel to different parts of the world to meet the requirements’ owners,” he said. “You hear a lot about inter- national problems on the news, and they seem far away and almost surreal. Actually traveling to these environments changes that reality; it provides more of an urgency to help.” In Colombia, for example, Kirkwood visited high-risk outposts and met with Colombian Soldiers fighting against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to better understand their intelligence system requirements. “Tis trip strengthened the bond for future telecoms with the Colombian military because we better understood the person on the other end of the phone.”
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Army AL&T Magazine
Fall 2019
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