DoD CIO Terry Halvorsen Retires as DoD CIO

On Tuesday, February 28th, Terry Halvorsen, Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO), retired after more than 36 years of government service. “It’s been a distinct honor and privilege to lead the DoD CIO team,” said Halvorsen. “We’ve experienced many challenges, and we made major progress on many priorities.” .

After almost three-years as DoD CIO, challenges Halvorsen’s team encountered included the constantly changing pace of information technology (IT), and the at-times inconceivable complexity of DoD networks and systems, all of which remain difficult.

Importantly, Halvorsen’s tenure as DoD CIO oversaw progress moving DoD toward a more integrated, resilient, dynamic, secure, and responsive IT environment. Because of these changes, DoD networks will transform data into more actionable information, empowering better operational and mission effectiveness at a better cost.

In particular, Halvorsen is proud of headway made on the Joint Regional Security Stacks (JRSS), which are providing better security today, and on the Department’s transition to a common operating system. “The decision alone to transition to a common operating system for an organization the size and scale of DoD is an accomplishment,” he said.

Halvorsen also departs the Department pleased about his team’s progress on the adoption of a cloud or “distributed” computing environment, and on securing the Department’s networks and systems, particularly with the DoD Cyber Scorecard.

Advancement of the Mission Partner Environment (MPE) will provide operational commanders with more network flexibility, and modernization of networks, like Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3), are critical to national security.

“Industry is the secret to our success” is a phrase that many familiar with Halvorsen’s public remarks have heard him say. The organization has moved the ball forward on the breadth and quality of interactions with industry through initiatives during Halvorsen’s tenure like the IT Exchange Program (ITEP) and West Coast trips.

Dr. John Zangardi will take over as Acting DoD CIO effective today. “The DoD CIO organization is in good hands, and I’m excited to see what’s next,” says Halvorsen.

To learn more about the vision for tomorrow’s DoD IT environment, click here and additional information about ITEP is available here