HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Army’s senior air defender discussed the things he finds most important in the space and missile defense community during the 31st annual Air, Space and Missile Defense Association luncheon on March 11.
Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, commanding general, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, gave the luncheons keynote speech, sharing his perspective on the industry and naming 10 areas he thinks it should focus on.
“These 10 points really highlight that this twin industry of space and air and missile defense has always been marked by its spirit of innovation,” Gainey said. “It’s in the DNA of this group; you all have passion for innovation in the air and missile defense area.”
Among his selected topics were rising threats like unmanned aircraft systems and adversaries targeting air and missile defense assets; the importance of integrating technologies like AI, electronic warfare, the Integrated Battle Command System and passive and attritable sensing; cost savings to enable warfighting endurance; and the importance of the air, missile defense and space industrial base.
“Our partnership with the local air, space and missile defense [industry] is a must-have partnership as we continue to leverage the great innovative work out there to get capabilities to the warfighter more quickly,” he said.
The ASMDA luncheon brought together members from industry, the military and the federal civilian workforce to discuss these topics and recognize people who are outstanding in the space and AMD fields.
“Events like this bring a lot of industry and government offices together where we can talk and get a chance to reward people,” said Bob Strider, former ASMDA president and current wall of honor committee lead. “Hopefully, the awards we give out can charge somebody up to share the knowledge of what impressive things they’re doing, and how they did it.”
One team and one individual from USASMDC were recognized. The USASMDC Multi-Function Radio Frequency Technologies Team, including Andrew Vernetti and Dr. Christopher Paulson, received an award for technical achievement, and Dr. Brian R. Lynch Jr. was recognized for service excellence. The Technical Achievement Award for a Contractor was also presented to Daniel Mills for his support to USASMDC.
“It feels great for our team to be recognized for this award,” Vernetti, engineer in the USASMDC Technical Center, said. “None of us are in it for the recognition, but it is very impactful and rewarding when our community of peers, sponsors and partners come together to highlight the work that is being done across both the services and industry to equip the warfighter to be able to fight the complex, multi-domain fight that is today’s battlefield.”
Technical Achievement Awards in the Government Individual Category were presented to the Missile Defense Agency’s Joseph Piñon, Jacob Nelson and Dr. David Williams II.
Other Technical Achievement Awards in the Government Team Category were presented to MDA’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Team, Sea-Based X-Band Radar-25 Team and Long-Range Discrimination Radar Capability Upgrades Accelerated Fielding Team.
Other Service Excellence Awards in the Government Individual Category were presented to MDA’s Ashely Garrison, Michael Kryzak and Devin Rosin.
Service Excellence Team Awards were presented to MDA’s THAAD Evolutionary Development Team and Formidable Shield 2025 MDA Test Team.
The Service Excellence Contractor Award was presented to Stephanie McCullough for her support to Portfolio Acquisition Executive Fires and Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.