Air Force general named next DISA leader - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Air Force general named next DISA leader

Air Force Maj. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins Jr. will replace Army Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett next week as director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Pollett is retiring after a 37-year career, including three years at DISA. Under Pollett’s tenure, DISA in April opened its 1.1 million-square-foot campus at Fort Meade, Md., as part of the base realignment and closure process.

Hawkins will receive his third star when he assumes his new position Jan. 11, leaving his post as deputy director of command, control, communications and computer systems, Joint Staff. He served as DISA’s vice director from September 2009 to July 2011.

DISA’s goal is to enable users to do business on a wired or wireless network from any device, anywhere at anytime, Pollet said at a DISA conference last year. “It’s about enabling operational effectiveness and gaining efficiencies,” he said.

But Hawkins faces a constrained budget environment, where DISA’s “need to deliver new capabilities is expected to outpace the availability of future resources,” according to the agency’s 2012 plan. The agency will be challenged to eliminate redundant information technology investments across the Defense Department, the plan says.