On Friday, November 07, 2014, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
Director, Lt Gen Ronnie D. Hawkins, Jr., USAF, and Nathan Maenle, Director
of Manpower, Personnel, and Security, DISA, visited National Defense
University to discuss the ongoing DISA Executive Leader Education Program
that Lt Gen Hawkins sponsors at the NDU iCollege. Interim NDU President,
Ambassador Wanda Nesbitt, and the iCollege Chancellor, Jan Hamby, RADM
(Ret.), USN, co-hosted the visit. Lt Gen Hawkins initiated the GS-15
Program in mid-2012 to provide civilian DISA leaders with professional
development opportunities and training that are analogous with the
experiences and training of military O-6s, many of whom have attended their
respective military service's command and staff schools and war colleges.
The mandatory, 24-month program, which includes six (6) iCollege courses, is
also intended to broaden the perspectives of participants and prepare them
for increased leadership responsibilities and to make contributions to DISA
beyond the scope of their current program areas. Lt Gen Hawkins regularly
visits the iCollege to speak with DISA students in the program and to
collaborate with NDU leadership.