Page 16 - The MIL Connection: Fall 2022

Brandon Nardo receives a Captain’s kudos

On September 14th, MIL received a letter of appreciation from Capt. S.J. Messer, Program Manager from Unmanned Carrier
Aviation (PMA-268), on the outstanding performance of MIL System Administrator Brandon Nardo.
In the letter, Captain Messer stated:
I wish to express my gratitude for Mr. Brandon Nardo's contributions to the Unmanned Carrier Aviation
(UCA) System Test & Integration Lab's effort in installing and verifying connectivity of the RDT&E
switches and firewall at the INMARSAT GOV facility in Lino Lakes, Minnesota.
Brandon demonstrated unparalleled dedication as part of the MQ-25 UCA System Test and Integration
Lab's efforts in setting up the required network path to connect to the HCP beam and its return path to
the UCA STIL. Brandon's flexibility to travel to Lino Lakes on short notice enabled the MQ-25 program to
move forward with its efforts to test the commercial wide band satellite communications path as a viable
datalink between the MQ-25A Air Vehicle and the MD-5 Ground Control Station. This effort will allow
the MQ-25 program to determine any issues that may arise with the utilization of commercial wide band
satellite communications as a datalink prior to MQ-25A Air Vehicle testing.
Captain Messer concluded with: “Please accept my personal appreciation and thankfulness for Brandon's outstanding
performance. His efforts truly reflect high standards of excellence and professionalism. On behalf of the entire PMA-268 team,
thank you for a job well done!”
Please join us in congratulating Brandon on his superior performance and customer kudos. Great job, Brandon!

MIL DEFCON team “swept ALL flags”

We are proud to share how MIL’s team went above and beyond in exemplifying an outstanding level of cyber expertise at the
2022 DEFCON hacker convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Check out this “Bravo Zulu” from Captain David Neall that captures
their accomplishment!
Three Cyber Engineers supporting PMA213 Combat Identification Team (Jerome Roubieu, Shaun Henderson, Daniel Bratton),
attended a National/World hackers’ event called “DEFCON.” While the initial intent was to build threat intelligence and
solutions architecture for our systems and interfaces, the team noticed an ongoing competition that involved cyber-attacks
against various systems for a simulated ship. Despite being a day behind and having no experience with the particular systems,
the team joined the competition in an effort to further understand shipboard systems. While the time remaining in DEFCON only
permitted the team to attempt 2 out of the 4 sections, they swept ALL flags in the events attempted (Steering and Propulsion) and
were able to finish the event in an overall tie for 6th place (1 flag away from 5th) out of over 24 entries! These are fantastic results
considering the teams at this competition are the best in the nation/world. These results exemplify the level of cyber expertise
available to CID and the commitment to pursuing the best cyber solutions and talent to counter the evolving threat. BRAVO
ZULU TEAM!

16 | the MIL connection | fall 2022