Glover assumes command of
SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic
Capt. (Sel) Mark Glover became the eighth commanding officer of Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center (SSC) Atlantic during a change of command ceremony held July 28, 2011, at Joint Base Charleston-Naval Weapons Station.
The assignment is a homecoming of sorts for Glover, who left his home in Walterboro, S.C., 29 years ago to begin his naval service. After serving around the globe in a variety of assignments, Glover now leads SSC Atlantic's approximately 3,500 federal civil service employees, 120 military personnel and 9,000 industry partners located at the center's headquarters in Charleston, S.C., and at other sites in the Tidewater, Va., New Orleans, La.; and Tampa, Fla.; and overseas locations in Europe, the Middle East and Antarctica.
Rear Adm. Patrick Brady, keynote speaker for the ceremony and commander of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, said “The work being done here at SSC Atlantic is a big reason why the Navy can continue to support so many different operations throughout the world. The common thread is information dominance. When we can collect, store, control and transmit the right information to the right people who need it at the right time, we have a tremendous advantage in every operation,” the admiral said.
Glover comes to SSC Atlantic after serving at Program Executive Officer, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I) in San Diego as the Deputy Program Manager for the Communications Program Office. In that position was responsible for the design, acquisition and life-cycle support of Navy Satellite Communications and Global Positioning System (GPS) programs.
“Today, the United States Navy, which I hold in the highest reverence and respect, has bestowed upon me a great honor: commanding officer of one of our Navy’s premier information technology organizations,” Glover told the audience. He vowed to continue to address the fleet’s growing challenge in supporting and maintaining its information technology capabilities.
“We will continue to strengthen our alignment with the Navy’s Information Dominance vision and leverage our technology to get inside of the enemy’s decision cycle. We will further enhance our unity of effort with our SPAWAR teammates and eliminate seams and redundancies. We will continue to use Continuous Process Improvement to reduce waste, making every dollar count for the taxpayer,” Glover said.
Outgoing Commanding Officer Urbon was lauded for bringing SSC Atlantic through momentous changes in the last three years, including the consolidation of east coast systems centers into SSC Atlantic, transition to a Competency Aligned Organization, and instituting new business management and personnel management systems.
“For all the great men and women of SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic,” Urbon said, “I applaud you for your great accomplishments. You have answered the call to provide for the defense and security of our great nation. I am humbled and honored at having had the opportunity to serve as your commanding officer.” Urbon will report to the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) in Washington, D.C.