Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th

(e.g. yourname@email.com)

Forgot Password?

    Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Logo

    Marine sergeant improves information security

    CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

    10.17.2010

    Story by Cpl. Megan Sindelar 

    Regional Command Southwest

    CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Sgt. Jeremy Furtney heads home with a Navy Achievement Medal after spending five months in Afghanistan successfully implementing the Host Base Security System to all sites in the Regional Command Southwest area of responsibility.

    Furtney, a Marine Corps Network Operations Security Center support technician, deployed with Regional Command Southwest, was the first to install the HBSS software in a tactical environment on all unclassified and classified machines on the Marine Corps Network.

    This accomplishment greatly increased the information assurance posture of the region while reducing the vulnerability the region previously held.

    Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jean Paul Duckett, MCNOSC liaison officer with RC(SW), says there were problems at the beginning while getting the software to synchronize between the server and repository, but Furtney’s perseverance and dedication to the mission at hand enabled him to troubleshoot the issues and implement viable solutions.

    “Without him working through those issues and being the boots on the ground, we would have never been able to deploy as successfully as we have,” Duckett said.

    Staff Sgt. Joffre R. Castillo, information assurance chief with RC (SW), said that upon Furtney’s arrival in mid-June, the Marine spent the first couple of weeks informing the RC (SW) Command and IA Marines about HBSS. He also taught all local administrators on the proper installation and management of the system.

    Commands that benefited from this training included I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward and all subordinate Marine units in the RC (SW) area of responsibility.

    Castillo stated, being able to successfully complete any software change on an operational network is very challenging, but Furtney was able to do this even though he had limited gear and worked through constant changes.

    All of his efforts enabled a successful HBSS implementation without disrupting the system the communications battalions already had in place.

    “Sgt. Furtney’s presence at each site was instrumental to ensure that all machines become compliant, troubleshoot any issues that arise and ensure software is used properly on all assets,” said Castillo.

    Both Duckett and Castillo believe the medal Furtney received was well deserved and they say he dedicated all of his time to this project.

    “If he wouldn’t have come out here, right now we would still be in the drafting and testing phase of pushing this software out,” Castillo said. “The impact of everything he did, we will have in the future.”

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.17.2010
    Date Posted: 10.17.2010 23:46
    Story ID: 58277
    Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF

    Web Views: 218
    Downloads: 12

    PUBLIC DOMAIN