BG Kauffman offered me the Associate Dean for Information Technology position in 2004 and I accepted. The political dynamic had changed and could be described as follows:
- West Point’s CIO: This was a Colonel position on the Superintendent’s staff with a team of 12 and no budget. It was a policy position. One policy a year was about the speed of operations.
- The Director of Information Management (DOIM): This was a LT Colonel position. Every Army installation has a DOIM that provides standard technology services. They were good people, underfunded, and because of the unique mission of West Point, we did not utilize their services very much.
- Associate Dean for Information Technology: This was a Colonel position on the Dean’s staff with all of the technology budget, staff, and operational responsibility beyond what the DOIM could offer. It was the academic CIO position.
I was replacing Colonel Don Welch who was retiring. Don had replaced Brigadier General Gene Ressler. This is to say I was inheriting a well-run organization. I did not inherit any audit findings. It would be the first and last time I would do so in my career as a Chief Information Officer. Bobby Ryan was my deputy who regrettably would get into a great deal of trouble after I left. Kerry German lead the fabled Goldcoats. Mrs. Edie Irwin led the Software Engineering Branch. Sergeant First Class Andy Creamer was our Chief Information Security Officer and John Blanc was our network engineer. Having said that, we were able to make significant improvements in West Point operations through technology. These improvements were in infrastructure, customer satisfaction, and innovation. The cumulative effect was a change in West Point culture.
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