Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Technology firms tap military knowledge, experience

Posted by Courtney E. Howard

I continue to be impressed by technology firms serving the military that also employ active and former military. Solutions for the military made by the military--it has a nice ring and beyond that, it makes good sense.

Virtually all vendors value customer/end-user feedback; I have learned that this is even more so the case in the mil-aero market. The practice has many pros, and yet is not without cons.

BAE Systems lost a pro, a valuable staff member, this week in a bombing in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq. Nicole Suveges, a BAE Systems political scientist, was killed in Iraq, where she had been supporting the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 4th Infantry Division, as part of the Human Terrain System (HTS) program, since April.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Nicole Suveges," says Doug Belair, president of BAE Systems' Technology Solutions & Services (TSS). "She came to us to give freely of herself in an effort to make a better world. Nicole was a leading academic who studied for years on how to improve conditions for others. She also believed in translating what she learned into action. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and colleagues."

Suveges had worked in Iraq for one year as a civilian contractor before joining BAE Systems. Suveges also previously served as a U.S. Army reservist in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, supporting the multinational SFOR/NATO Combined Joint Psychological Operations Task Force.

Suveges, who held a Master of Arts in political science from The George Washington University, was working on her Ph.D. in political science with an emphasis on international relations from Johns Hopkins University.

I am certain she and her valuable contributions and insights will be missed.

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