Chris Ward (Commander, U.S. Navy (Retired)) has over 30 years of experience helping the Department of Defense (DoD) solve difficult technology requirements. She has a proven track record of building, maintaining, securing, and certifying technology solutions for use within DoD. She works with Industry to identify key opportunities and provides strategic guidance and support. She is a strategic analyst and cybersecurity professional who has deep expertise in improving enterprise cybersecurity.

Chris is a Senior Advisor at OODA LLC and an OODA Network Member. In this series of OODA interviews, we talk about how she came to be a part of OODA.  In subsequent conversations in this series, we will talk about Chris’ vast experience within the DoD, especially with procurement, operations, and specific programs like the Other Transaction Authority (OTA), amongst others.

“Japan has been subject to restrictions since the end of World War II but is now doubling its military budget.  That is a very significant geopolitical development.” 

Daniel Pereira:  I always start these interviews with OODA Network members’ origin stories:  What brought you to OODA LLC and the OODA Network?  You and Bob have been colleagues and friends for over 20 years, right?

Chris Ward:  Yes. In 2005, when I retired from the Navy, I got hired by Admiral Archie Clemens  – he passed away a couple of years ago, but he is a legend in the Navy, the father of the Navy’s IT program, IT at Sea.  Clemens hired me and while I was working for him, he said, “You are going to meet this guy, Bob Gourley,” who was at the time working for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).  So we all met in the middle of a blizzard that year – which is a whole other story.  Bob and I also crossed paths in Japan when we were on active duty. He was on the ship that I supported.  And I was on the ship when he was on the shore. And so we had a lot of constructive collaboration even then.

Pereira:  A quick aside.  In our research queue is the fact that Japan should be on everyone’s strategic tracking list because it is doubling its military budget as a function of feeling too vulnerable in its dependence on Taiwan for defense.   

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/04/07/japans-stunning-advancements-in-national-defense-investments/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/04/08/five-more-reasons-japan-should-be-on-your-sensemaking-radar/

Ward:  Yes, Bob and I have discussed that development in Japan recently. I am sure we will generate some research and posts on OODA Loop on that topic in the months ahead.  I really love the Japanese people and I really enjoy working with them.  It is always productive and satisfying work. 

Note:  Since this conversation in January 2023, Chris and Daniel have both contributed posts  – linked above – on this topic of the Japanese military budget and other strategic insights about Japan’s role in the East China Sea.

“I caught that moment in the conversation with Vint [Cerf] and Bob [Gourley] at OODAcon, and his perspective on the future of misinformation made complete sense.”

Ward:  So, back to how I came to OODA.  Bob was on the joint task force right before he retired.  And I have worked with him ever since through numerous companies. When he left DIA, he created CTOvision.  He created Crucial Point, then he joined Cognitio, and then formed OODA.  And, interestingly enough, I went from Cognitio to OODA with him. OODA is a great bunch of people. I would work with Bob on any project. I just really, really admire him.

Pereira:  And he was able to extend an invite to Vint Cerf to join us for OODAcon 2022 – and he did. Which was a great conversation.  

Ward:  Yes.  The real story of OODAcon is what the heck is Vint Cerf doing? That is not a normal aging process.  And at the end of his talk with Bob, he jumped off the stage!  

Pereira: It was impressive.

Ward:  I saw Vint fifteen years ago and he looked fifteen years younger than he did fifteen years ago.  That is not normal aging. Whatever he is doing, I want to know.

Pereira:  And towards the end of his talk with Bob, Cerf signed off on the fact that there will not be a technological solution to misinformation  – and then shifted the discussion of cognitive infrastructure and the importance of civic education. And that was a gift to me from OODAcon because, in my role, we could be curating misinformation initiatives until we are blue in the face, all the while knowing that there will not be a magic bullet.  Which has been frustrating.  I want to make sure we are curating good stuff that is in the sweet spot. Misinformation impacts every crisis we are grappling with and contributes to the current era of extreme uncertainty.  Misinformation is a really troubling issue.

But, now that Cerf chimed in so emphatically at OODAcon – validating what we were already seeing through our research – we can be a clear voice on the importance of cognitive infrastructure, civic engagement, and digital wellness.  We will continue to track all the misinformation initiatives, but we need also need to be careful that we are not boiling the ocean. 

Ward:  I caught that moment in the conversation with Vint and Bob at OODAcon, and his perspective on the future of misinformation made complete sense.

“The whole DoD rapid prototyping effort – I’ve been watching it from the beginning.” 

Ward:  So, Daniel, I would say that my expertise, I’m retired Navy and I did command and control cyber for the Navy with a specialty in space. So that is mostly what I have been doing for OODA. Bob and I have worked on cyber-related issues forever. If anybody needs to know something about the Department of Defense (DoD) – whether it’s Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Joint – I can always be the person to work with on that. And the skills that I learned with cyber and the Navy, I’ve used in a couple of companies. So we did a big cyber assessment for a regional bank a couple of years ago. We are doing a major non-profit now. We just did one for a major retailer earlier in the year. So I do a lot of cyber assessments when companies need it. 

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/09/20/speculative-design-u-s-army-experimental-cubesats-miniaturized-satellites/

Pereira:  So my line of questioning is more on the topic of your DoD operations expertise.  Let’s take something we did an analysis, which was a CubeSats project.  And I noticed a lot of your previous writing contributions on OODA Loop deal many times with notions of speed and scale of deliverable  – and how different the USG is in how it delivers on these projects.  I am always trying to find something on that topic.

So I also found this decision superiority project within the Air Force.  And notice that I put a whole section entitled “How Was this Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation Administratively Enabled?” in the speculative design post on the CubeSat project.  I think there is a growing readership for how to get projects through the USG  – and I try to surface specific details about the award process whenever they are available. 

Ward:  The whole DoD rapid prototyping effort – I’ve been watching it from the beginning.  What they thought it was going to be and what it actually is  – and where it’s going in the future – is three completely separate entities. Right?

Pereira:  I am still reading up on it, but I can only imagine. 

“SAIC should not be winning first and second place in a prized challenge designed to foster DoD innovation from small to medium-sized businesses.”

Ward:  I mean, I was at a conference in December 2022 where they were doing rapid prototyping with the other transactional authority  It was a prize challenge.  We have all been watching these prize challenges, right, for years?  They can be really productive and informative, where the government throws money at companies to just put some effort into it.  And they send the RFP out to the industry and they are looking for non-conventional, innovative small businesses to answer this DoD requirement.

They put the requirement out there, they took the submissions back in and then they announced the winners. So there were probably 50 submissions and the two winners – are you ready? – SAIC and SAIC.   I literally have a picture of the two guys getting up on the stage to get the big $15,000 check – the big, printed check, right? Both were wearing SAIC T-shirts.

Pereira:  Clearly not the desired outcome of that particular prize challenge. I find there is a fork in the road – from my time running a government contract – of people who can list off many one or two of the traditional top-level systems integrators – the primes – and then there is the percentage of people that are actually familiar with SAIC.  I walked away from the TSA contract I was running really overwhelmed by the tentacles of SAIC within the federal government.  I grew up around many of those operations in El Segundo, California – near LAX – but SAIC does not even have a presence there.   

Ward:  They used to be headquartered in San Diego. That was where they started.  And then they moved to DC about 15 years ago.  But, again, the main point and nothing against SAIC – but SAIC should not be winning first and second place in a prized challenge designed to foster DoD innovation from small to medium-sized businesses. 

Ward:  I think I’m pretty fired up on rapid prototyping and the OTA experience right now because I’ve just been watching it so closely and it has been so frustrating. So that might be a good place for us to start in these conversations. And again, just to make sure you understand, my area is the Department of Defense. So I do work with industries that want help in cyber to be like the Department of Defense, so DoD is really my background. So that is the area that I mostly work in for OODA.

Pereira:  Right. And since coming on board with OODA, I have also really responded to your systems thinking posts about the large-scale transformational projects within the government.  I found it was a major theme of many of your posts for OODA Loop.  So we can talk about some of those types of projects as well.

Ward:  Great. 

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/04/21/ooda-senior-advisor-and-network-member-chris-ward-on-startups-smbs-innovation-and-the-dod-other-transaction-authority/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/01/26/the-air-force-need-for-speed-the-end-of-the-requirements-up-front-model-software-factories-and-digital-transformation/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/02/23/the-worlds-largest-digital-twin-modeling-and-simulation-project/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2021/04/07/quantum-key-distribution-on-land-and-in-space/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2020/10/29/can-prize-challenges-help-the-dod-find-autonomous-cybersecurity-ai-solutions/