HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – The Department of Defense has recognized a Hanscom acquisition professional for excellence in product support.
Jasen Blacksburg, director of Logistics, Enterprise IT and Cyber Infrastructure Division, was presented with the 2021 Office of the Secretary of Defense Product Support Manager of the Year award by Lisa P. Smith, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Product Support, during a ceremony here July 28.
The award is based on three main tenets: effective product support strategies that deliver readiness for the warfighter, affordability for the Department and exceptional leadership and mentoring of logisticians in their organization.
Blacksburg said he was “floored” when he learned of the honor and credited his teammates for his success.
“They taught me as much about family and resiliency as they did about the job,” he said. “When you look around on the flight deck and every crewmember is at the top of their game, then you know you need to step up. I am definitely still playing catch up to their expertise and professionalism and I am honored to serve here at Hanscom.”
A PSM is responsible for managing the support functions required to develop, field, and maintain the readiness and operational capabilities of major weapon systems, subsystems, and components. PSMs are also responsible for accomplishing the overall integration of the 12 product support elements through government activities, contracts with a commercial organization(s), or a combination of both.
Smith, who serves as the principal advisor to OSD leadership on policies, procedures, and actions related to the readiness and sustainability of major weapon systems, established the PSM award in 2013, because the work is “critical to what we do and it’s important to recognize individuals whose work is exceptional.”
Noting the award is “highly competitive,” Smith said she was “elated” when she read Blacksburg’s package.
“When I hear his name, I automatically think of IT and the cloud,” she said. “Jasen has done a lot in those areas.”
His innovative solutions assured implementation of a faster, more reliable and secured network that will continue to improve user experience and enable bases and Airmen around the globe to accomplish their missions with greater speed and efficiency, reads part of his award citation.
During her comments, Smith highlighted Blacksburg’s work on Enterprise IT as a service, including FIAR (Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness), noting that his actions and leadership led to “great results.”
Smith said his efforts with Cloud Hosted Enterprise Services, or CHES, ensured we all had TEAMS - even during the pandemic.
“Now, when I get on TEAMS every day, I think of you,” she said, which brought laughs from the ceremony attendees.
Blacksburg credits his division leadership for setting high standards and understanding the importance of product and capability support in the constantly evolving cyber and IT realms.
“They are unbelievably proactive toward product support strategies for cyber and IT products and services,” he said. “I have been lucky to work with many great leaders, including Brian Kropa, our chief engineer, on how we can improve support for our as-is and to-be architectures. I know we will continue to do great things in 2023 and beyond.”
The Enterprise IT and Cyber Infrastructure Division is a component of the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorate, headquartered at Hanscom.
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