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    PEO Celebrates a Life Through the Technology They Built

    PEO Celebrates a Life Through the Technology They Built

    Photo By John Higgins | Mark Kitz, right, Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and...... read more read more

    ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, UNITED STATES

    12.16.2021

    Story by John Higgins 

    Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors

    Ralph Waldo Emerson said “It’s not the length of life, but the depth of life.”

    Members of Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) invited the family of Rob Martinsen, Acquisition Management Specialist and retired Soldier who passed away recently, to show the depth of his life, measured through technologies that have been used by warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan over decades and those posed to protect Soldiers for generations to come.

    A life measured in lives saved. A life measured in bringing Soldiers home.

    Mark Kitz, the PEO for IEW&S invited Tammy Martinsen, Rob’s wife, Roasalie Bedoya, his daughter, and Robert Bedoya, his grandson to see some of the equipment Rob had large role in developing for Project Manager Positioning, Navigation and Timing.

    Maj. David Picard, Assistant Product Manager for Dismounted Assured Position Navigation and Timing Systems (DAPS), talked to the systems Martinsen’s had worked on recently and gave Robert a challenge coin. "Mr. Martinson sought excellence in everything he did, and demanded we do the same," Picard told the Martinsen family.

    "You know he was one smart cookie," Tammy told members of the PEO IEW&S team.

    After that, the team had informal ceremony of thanks to Martinsen’s family.

    Martinsen also worked on Aerostats based systems before he joined PM PNT. That system was critical "when it would go up, enemy activity would just stop, wherever it was." said Steve Gunther, Division Chief, Program Acquisition and Cost Efficiencies.

    "You may remember him working virtually every day while supporting the Aerostat mission, but what you may not have known was the tremendous impact his effort provided," said Kitz. "The results without a doubt saved countless Soldiers lives as those Aerostats flew overhead providing a complete real-time picture of potential enemy activity."

    "He set the conditions for us to provide technology directly to the Soldier with the dismounted PNT program," Kitz continued. "Which will ensure they know without a doubt where they are operating while removing the potential for enemy threats to spoof systems."

    Kitz then passed another challenge coin to Robert and flowers were given to Tammy and Roasalie. Finally, Kitz gave a certificate of appreciation to Tammy for her support of her husband and his missions.

    "I would like to reiterate how important you have all been to the successes Rob has realized for our nation. You are all key members of the PEO IEW&S and greater Army family and I just want to say thank you." said Kitz.

    The formal part concluded, the team shared stories of Martinsen’s life with his family.

    Martinsen was born in Hartford, Ct., and served for twenty years in uniform, after retirement he continued as a contractor and served his community as a member of the Catholic Church.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 12.16.2021
    Date Posted: 12.21.2021 16:15
    Story ID: 411712
    Location: ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, US

    Web Views: 162
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN