Letter to Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the U.S. Air Force - Select New Director for Rome Labs
Letter
Dear Secretary Deborah Lee James,
We write to express concern about a critical New York institution, the Rome Laboratory, the Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the pending decision to name a permanent director.
First, we want to express our approval of the departing director, applaud Mr. George Duchak, for his innovative and proactive leadership during his all-too-brief tenure at Rome Laboratory. His entrepreneurial approach to creating an ecosystem in Rome for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) and Cyber created $1.1B in revenue during 2014 alone, and this team of partners continues to create great value toward both the defense of our nation and the regional economy.
We strongly encourage you to appoint a new director who has the same forward-thinking, enterprising approach to advancing this information technology center of excellence. As you know, Rome Laboratory is an essential element of a growing and synergistic community in upstate New York in the C4I and Cyber mission space, bringing together a world-class research capability with industry partners, international experts, and academia. The Air Force estimates that the annual economic impact of Rome Laboratory is over $290 million within Central New York, including over 1,300 indirect jobs supported.
You once made the statement, "Rome Labs is the centerpiece for our Air Force cybersecurity and the future of Command, Control and Communications." We could not agree more. We anticipate Rome Laboratory will become even more of a strategic asset to the Air Force as we continue to see cyber threats emerge globally, which is why appointing a qualified and dedicated with leader as the Director of Rome Laboratory is so important. With the right leadership and support from the Air Force, our nation can only benefit from the research and development taking place at Rome Laboratory.
We thank you for your consideration of this matter. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.
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