Speakers

Major General Jeth B. Rey serves as the Director of the Network Cross-Functional Team within Army Futures Command focusing on integrating and modernizing the Army’s network. BG Rey is responsible for the continuous improvement of network, command, control, communications and intelligence to enable mission command across the tactical network. This will enable the speed, range and convergence required to achieve decision dominance and overmatch against near-peer adversaries.

BG Rey previously served as the Director of Command and Control, Communications, and Computer Systems, J6, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, where he was responsible for the implementation and management of USCENTCOM’s global communications, cybersecurity, and computer networks.

BG Rey is a native of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands and has served in Army enlisted, warrant, and officer positions. He received his commission from the Army’s Officer Candidate School and was commissioned into the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He has received three Master’s Degrees including Telecommunications Management, National Security Studies from the Naval War College and Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

Mr. Nicholaus Saacks currently serves as the Deputy Program Executive Officer, Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, since February 2022.
In this capacity, Mr. Saacks guides a workforce of more than 1,600 personnel supporting over 50 Army acquisition programs and efforts. Mr. Saacks’ responsibilities include the development, acquisition,fielding and support of the Army’s tactical network, a critical Army priority that provides information dominance to current and future Soldiers in challenging environments worldwide.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Saacks served as the PEO C3T Readiness Management Division Director. He was the PEO’s senior logistician responsible for directing, developing, and implementing logistics, property accountability,and fielding policies for the Army’s tactical network and mission command capabilities. Under his leadership, the PEO successfully fielded the Integrated Tactical Network, as well as state-of-the-art communications equipment to all six Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs). Mr. Saacks has been a leading voice in Transition to Sustainment, positively impacting Army policy while consistently transitioning systems to sustainment across the portfolio. From May 2016 to January 2018 he served in the same role in Project Lead Network Enablers, supporting Communications Security, Key Management, Common Hardware Systems, and Tactical Network Initialization tools.
Mr. Saacks began his career as a Department of Defense civilian employee in 2005 with Army Materiel Command. In 2006, he joined the Communications- Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where he was an item manager for avionics and force protection systems. As an executive officer, he led the reorganization of the CECOM Logistics and Readiness Center in 2008 as the command moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground. He became a member of the Army Acquisition Corps in 2009 and subsequently held
acquisition positions including branch chief, supply study group chief, and division chief within the Army at Fort Monmouth and Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Mr. Saacks holds a Master’s of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Spring Hill College in Mobile,Alabama. He is a graduate of the Defense Acquisition University Senior Service College Fellowship and the Aberdeen Proving Ground Senior Leadership Development Cohort Program. He and his wife, Sara, have two children.

Mr. Patrick Dedham serves as the Deputy to the Commanding General U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command. Mr. Dedham manages and provides strategic direction for NETCOM activities to lead global operations for the Army's portion of the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) and to ensure freedom of action in cyberspace while denying the same to our adversaries.

Mr. Dedham is an Information Technology (IT) professional and leader with several decades of proven experience with a comprehensive background in IT systems management, cyber security, IT service support, IT infrastructure design, leadership, management, operational and strategic planning. Prior to his current assignment he led and managed IT support and several major projects as the Director for the Regional Network Enterprise Center - National Capital Region (RNEC-NCR), as a Senior Vice President for a private company, and as the Director of Information Technology Services for the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

Prior to these assignments, Mr. Dedham served in the U.S. Army for over 28 years. The key positions he held included: Division G6 in the 82nd Airborne Division; International Security & Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command CJ6; 11th Signal Brigade Commander; and the J6 for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). His operational deployments include Desert Shield/Storm (1991-1992), Uphold Democracy (1995), Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2004), and Operation Enduring Freedom (2007-2008, 2010-2011, and 2012) where he provided and managed IT networks, Command and Control (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) support.

Mr. Dedham graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems and earned two Master Degrees in Information Systems Management and National Security from Webster University and the National War College. He has also earned the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Project Management Professional (PMP) and Information Technology, and Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation certifications.

Mike Madsen is the Deputy Director and Director of Strategic Engagement at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). 

Before joining DIU, Mike was the Executive Director for the Section 809 Congressional Advisory Panel on Streamlining Acquisition. The Panel provided the intellectual underpinnings for acquisition reform language in defense authorization statutes. Prior to this, Mike served for 22 years in the U.S. Air Force where he led at the group and squadron levels and is a decorated combat pilot. Mike retired from the Air Force while he was the Senior Air Force Advisor to the Director, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Mike also served as Division Chief in Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, directly advising the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force on issues before the congressional defense committees.

He holds a degree in Meteorology from the University of Nebraska and Master’s degrees from Troy University, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the National War College.

Lauren C. Williams is senior editor for Defense One. She previously covered defense technology and cybersecurity for FCW and Defense Systems. Before then, Williams has reported on several issues, including internet culture, national security, health care, politics and crime for various publications. She has a master's in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor's in dietetics from the University of Delaware. She can be contacted at lwilliams@govexec.com or follow her on Twitter @lalaurenista.

George Jackson is vice president of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. He joined the company in 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences. In 2021, George launched GovExec TV (streaming video content) and received the company’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, part of their first-annual Icon Awards.

George 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 4 th 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.