Thomas Sikora Email and Phone Number

As the Division Head for the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) I manage the operational test planning and execution of the multibillion dollar portfolio of programs within the division to include cost, schedule and scope, regular meetings and briefings/updates to senior military and Pentagon officials as well as close coordination with system users and developers to ensure that requirements are fully understood and met.

The COC program is a nearly $3 billion program which provides USMC commanders all command and control resources necessary to execute military operations. It is a "system of systems" requiring integration of many programs from multiple PMOs in order to provide a single "Common Operational Picture" (COP).Duties once again included all facets of program management to include cost, schedule and scope responsibilities. Providing regular updates, status reports and decision points to executive level staff. Liaising with multiple PMO's to ensure that competing requirements across the enterprise were adequately understood and coordinated in order to support information exchanges and interoperability.I led a primarily civilian, cross-functional team of project officers, engineers from a variety of engineering disciplines (SW and HW Engineering, systems engineering, design engineers) logistics and financial management in order to support existing legacy systems as well as plan for the replacement of obsolete equipment as well as designing a major hardware and software upgrade to all systems.

Managed all facets of the BFT Program, later to be known as JBC-P Increment 1. Received awards and accolades for reducing the lifecycle and sustainment costs of the program by over $7M per year by reworking all support and sustainment efforts into a leaner, organic sustainment concept. In addition, support personnel across the USMC decreased by 18 contracted support personnel while system availability and positive user feedback increased dramatically.

Responsible for the Operational and Strategic planning of contingency operations with the Central Command Region. Conducted multiple site surveys of multiple foreign locations in order to support contingency and Theater Security Cooperation efforts. This entailed regular meetings, briefings and updates to senior military and embassy/State Department Officials as well examining all facets of logistics and contracting support.

Built the Marine Corps Project team that was tasked with jointly developing an encrypted, tactical, handheld, computing device (smartphone) to be used at the squad level. Initial efforts included a requirements decomposition working group responsible for ensuring the that operational/user requirements were understood and all derived requirements were adequately catalogued and documented. Routinely engaged senior Army, USMC and Pentagon officials in order to ensure USMC user/customer requirements would be met. Worked closely with the Software Engineering Directorate, Huntsville, AL, USA Program Office, Aberdeen, MD and a variety of technical developers and satellite communications providers throughout the Requirements Development and Engineering Phases of the program. During this period I was responsible for all facets of program management to include cost, schedule and scope responsibilities. Providing regular updates, status reports and decision points to executive level staff. Leading a cross-functional team of civilian engineers from a variety of engineering disciplines often geographically dispersed.

Competitively selected for admission to attend the NPS attaining a Masters of Business Administration with focus on Materiel Logistics Management and Defense Finance. Graduated with distinguished thesis which focused on combating rising health costs using a Lean/Six Sigma approach.

Progressive logistics management billets spanning all facets of logistics including but not limited to supply chain management, motor transport, embarkation, flight line operations, general engineering, facilities management, maintenance, safety and landing support. Also simultaneously serving as section head and later company commander responsible for as many as 700 Marines.