Speakers

Vice Adm. Jeff Trussler is a native of Oklahoma and a member of the Cherokee Nation. He graduated from Miami High School (’81 Wardogs), Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Oklahoma. He was commissioned at the Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1985. He was also a 2011-2012 Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program in Foreign Politics, International Relations and the National Interest.

His previous shore and staff assignments include Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC), U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) nuclear propulsion examining board (NPEB), two tours at the Navy Personnel Command (NPC), the Joint Staff, and the Navy Staff.
At sea and operational assignments, he served as a division officer on USS Honolulu (SSN 718), engineer officer on USS Tennessee (SSBN 734) and executive officer on USS Columbus (SSN 762). He commanded USS Maryland (SSBN 738) (Blue) and was the first commander of Task Force 69 for the U.S. 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy.

Trussler’s flag assignments were as the first commander, Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) and as director, Future Plans on the Navy Staff.
Trussler was the recipient of the Naval Submarine League’s Rear Adm. Jack Darby Award for Inspirational Leadership and Excellence in Command for 2006. He is most proud of all of his shipmates on Maryland that went on to senior leadership positions in the Chief’s Quarters and the eight officers that have gone on to their own commands.

He assumed duties as deputy chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare and the 68th director of Naval Intelligence in June 2020.

Christopher Cleary was named the Department of the Navy Chief Principal Cyber Advisor (PCA) in November 2020. In this role, he is responsible for advising the Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, and Commandant of the Marine Corps and implementing the Department of Defense Cyber Strategy within the Department of the Navy (DON). Prior to being appointed as the PCA he was the DON Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of the DON CIO
Cybersecurity Directorate.

Before returning to his roots in the Navy, Chris worked in the commercial sector as Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for Leidos’ Cyber & SIGINT Solutions Operation, based in Columbia, Maryland. Chris’s other commercial experience includes Director of Business Development, Tenable; Client Partner, Verizon Enterprise Solutions; Director of Cyber Intelligence, L3 Communications; President, Vir-Sec Government Services; and Senior Manager of Intelligence Programs, Sparta.

Chris is a retired Naval Reserve Officer who served 16 of 24 years on active duty in a variety of
leadership roles supporting several commands including, US CYBER COMMAND, National
Security Agency (NSA), Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), National Reconnaissance Office
(NRO), Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Assault Craft Unit TWO, and USS Simpson
(FFG-56). Prior to receiving his commission, Chris spent four years as an F/A-18 Hornet avionics
technician serving with The Desert Gladiators (VFA-106). Chris has deployed four times, twice
supporting combat operations in Iraq.

He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Program Management
Professional (PMP). He has been a lecturer at the United States Naval Academy, Federal Aviation
Administration, Naval Postgraduate School, The New School of Design, Montreat College,
DEFCON Security Conference, and the National Defense University.
Chris graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1996 and he obtained a Master of Arts in
National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in 2012.

Aaron Weis was named Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer effective September 29, 2019. As DON CIO, he is the Principal Staff Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy for information management, digital, data and cyber strategy. In this role, he is also responsible for reviewing the DON budget proposal for Information Technology (IT) and National Security System (NSS) expenditures and investments, and certifying whether it adequately addresses concerns from enterprise efficiency and cybersecurity perspectives. 

Previously, he served as Senior Advisor to the Department of Defense CIO. In this role he focused on  driving strategy and support for the critical CIO programs, including Joint Artificial Intelligence Center  (JAIC), Enterprise Cloud, Cyber, and Command, Control and Communications (C3). He led the effort to  develop the DoD Enterprise Cloud Strategy as well as the DoD IT Modernization strategy. Aaron led the  first ever CIO accreditation of the $46 billion IT budget across the Department. 

Prior to his role at DoD CIO, Aaron was Senior Vice President and CIO at Axalta Coating Systems, the  former DuPont Performance Coatings business, created in 2013. Aaron arrived at Axalta in 2015 with the  mission to transform the legacy IT organization and infrastructure into a platform ready for Axalta’s  business to grow on. At Axalta, he transformed the IT systems by fully moving the company to a cloud  delivered infrastructure, consolidated ERP systems and created a captive off-shore IT center in India.  With the infrastructure and organization transformation complete, the IT strategy shifted to providing innovative business capability based on SAP S/4 and supporting growth by driving strong IT integrations of acquired companies. 

Before moving to Axalta, Aaron was the Vice President and General Manager for Boston-based Sensata  Technologies’ Magnetic Speed & Position business, which was acquired from Honeywell in 2010. As  business manager and integration leader, Aaron successfully integrated the former Honeywell business  into Sensata’s global automotive business and moved three acquired automotive production plants in  Asia and Europe to Sensata’s centralized facilities in China, as well as creating a 10 year strategic plan for  the business that more than doubled revenue. 

Aaron was Sensata’s first CIO as a newly independent company. He started at Sensata in October 2006  when it was a division of Texas Instruments, subsequently becoming Sensata Technologies, a $3.0 billion  leader in the world of Sensors, Electrical Protection and Controls. Aaron built a global IT team with the  charter to develop and deploy a technology infrastructure and vision for the newly independent  company. 

Previously, Aaron was Vice President of Business Applications and Enabling Technology for Tyco  International. At Tyco, he was responsible for the coordination, direction and strategy of the business  application landscape for both corporate and cross-business unit applications. He also was the leader for  IT Vendor Management across the $40 billion enterprise. 

Before joining Tyco, he was the Director of Operations and Enabling Services for Siemens Corporation  where he was responsible for building and operating corporate services for use among 15 U.S. companies and several regions in North and South America. While at Siemens, he held several roles both  in the US and in Germany. 

Aaron holds an MBA from Villanova University and a BA from University of Illinois.

Bill Coleman joined World Wide Technology (WWT) in August, 2021 following a 26-year Naval career.  He is currently the Navy Global Enterprise Modernization Software and Services (GEMSS) program manager focused on using Enterprise Agreements to help the Navy achieve its network modernization strategy and deliver value.      

Bill’s final role in the Navy was the Major Program Manager for the Navy’s Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Office (PMA 271) in the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), responsible for ensuring reliable and enduring links to the nuclear triad. He led a team of 300 military and civilian personnel in managing the acquisition, life-cycle sustainment and capability upgrades of the Navy’s E-6B Mercury fleet and its follow-on aircraft.  

Prior to his tour at PMA 271, Bill held multiple leadership roles in DoD acquisition from systems engineering and international programs for the P-3 and P-8 aircraft, to program management of the Navy’s undergraduate advanced training jet, the T-45 Goshawk.  In his penultimate tour, Bill was selected as a Secretary of Defense Executive Fellow assigned to ExxonMobil in Houston- one of 15 senior military officers assigned to a Fortune 500 company for a year-long industry immersion. 

Bill has more than 2,000 flight hours in the S-3B Viking and the P-3C Orion, and has completed multiple worldwide deployments over 14 years, prior to transitioning to an Aviation Engineering Duty Officer.  He hails from Northeast Ohio and graduated from the United States Naval Academy.  He earned an MBA from North Carolina State University while stationed in Raleigh as a Navy ROTC instructor.  Following his retirement, he relocated with his family to Cary, NC.  

Retired Navy Commander John Sprague serves as the Director, Business Development Navy and Marine Corps for World Wide Technology (WWT). He has served as a Client Executive, Strategic Advisor and Systems Engineering Director since joining WWT in April 2015. Immediately prior to coming to WWT, Sprague was a senior government civilian managing a large, classified program.

Sprague retired from the Navy in April 2013, after serving 23 years of distinguished service. He was a Surface Warfare Officer, Information Warfare Officer, Space Cadre, Engineering Duty Officer and Acquisition Professional serving in various roles of responsibility both at sea and ashore. 

Sprague served over seven years at sea aboard USS Shreveport (LPD 12), USS John Young (DD 973) and embarked on USS Peleliu (LHA 5) as part of Commander, Amphibious Squadron One. His deployments included two into the Mediterranean Sea area of operations and off the east Africa coast as well as two Middle East Arabian Gulf Deployments.

Sprague laterally transferred to the Engineering Duty Officer and Acquisition Community and served at all levels within the Naval Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR). His roles included Tactical Data Links Test Engineer supporting the Missile Defense Agency, Officer in Charge NAVWAR Command Mideast stationed in Bahrain, and Program Manager of both the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) and the Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (CANES) programs.

Sprague is a native of Tuckerton, New Jersey and graduated and was commissioned in 1990 at The Pennsylvania State University.  He furthered his education to include two master’s degrees in Computer Science and Information Technology from The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.

Joe Beel is an 8-year Cisco veteran where he leads Shipboard business as the team’s Client Executive.  Joe’s previous role was creating and leading Cisco’s DoD Business Development and Capture team. 

Joe retired from the Navy as a captain where he served as a pilot and acquisition professional.  He commanded acquisition organizations within both the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) (now Naval Information Warfare Systems Command).

Joe holds a MS (with distinction) in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy.  He was recognized as the Federal Laboratory Director of the Year in 2014.  In 2017, he received the Government  Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC) Industry Leadership award.

Ken Ebert has been with Cisco since July 2021 where he leads business development and capture for Navy and Space Force opportunities. Prior to joining Cisco, Ken was the Senior Director of Operations for a defense consulting firm, Client Solution Architects, LLC, where he managed a portfolio of program management and logistics service contracts.

Ken retired from the Navy as a Captain where he served as a Surface Warfare Officer and Engineering Duty Officer. He held various defense acquisition positions supporting Naval Information Warfare (NAVWAR) Systems Command. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, having served in Balad, Iraq as an Electronic Warfare Officer from 2006-2007, and has served two overseas assignments in Japan. He culminated his career as Program Manager for the Ship Integration program office in PEO C4I.

Ken holds a M.S. in Astronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. Ken is a proud member of multiple professional organizations to include the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA), American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), Surface Navy Association (SNA), and American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA). He is Project Management Professional (PMP) certified.

George Jackson is the director of events at GovExec Media– the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.”

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.