SENTEL Corp., a premier engineering and software company, has hired retired Air Force Reserve Col. Janice Manijak Morrow – the 2004 AUVSI Al Aube Outstanding Contributor Award recipient and a Legion of Merit honoree as its director of strategic initiatives.
Morrow received the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Al Aube Award for demonstrating the spirit and intent of its mission in an extraordinary manner. She orchestrated one of the most dynamic changes in the Air Force – the recognition of small unmanned systems and the integration of their role into the Air Force mission. In 2004, the Air Force acknowledged her UAV proposal and signed a memorandum designating Air Force Special Operations Command as lead command for all small UAVs in the service.
Morrow received the Legion of Merit Medal for her visionary leadership as chief of the Air Force’s Special Management Office for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Her superb guidance and leadership were directly responsible for defining the command’s future, improving Air Force operations capabilities worldwide and arming battlefield airmen to fight the war against terrorism, according to the citation. The Legion of Merit is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.
Col. Morrow brings an exceptional level of expertise and vision to our team at SENTEL, said James F. Garrett, president of SENTEL. Her leadership and experience in developing small unmanned systems requirements, as well as acquiring small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the Air Force will help lead SENTEL into new strategic areas. She brings a keen know-how that is unparalleled in this field and will be a priceless asset to our clients in their long-term strategies.
Morrow will build core expertise in strategic planning and launch a new division specializing in various capability aspects of unmanned systems for SENTEL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dimensions International Inc. She will develop new strategic areas for the Alexandria-based company to expand its capabilities in unmanned systems and the expertise it offers its clients, including those in the federal government such as the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and the private sector.
Morrow has more than 22 years of experience in support of the DOD, homeland defense, strategic and contingency planning, operations, research and analysis.
Morrow’s new division at SENTEL will provide integration and engineering services to customers, including DOD and private industry. That work includes building roadmaps, performing assessments and tackling key challenges confronting unmanned systems employment and operations.
Some of the biggest unmanned systems challenges in a global sense involve interoperability, bandwidth requirements, frequency allocation and management, interference, airspace management and de-confliction, as well as operator qualifications, Morrow said. It’s important we swiftly resolve these challenges so our operators can fully reap the benefits these capabilities bring to the fight.
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles has grown exponentially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the war on terrorism. It’s the present and the future, Garrett said. SENTEL has been a leader in exploring the capabilities of this revolutionary industry. Col. Morrow’s expertise will help us develop even more solutions in this growing field.
On the battlefield, UAVs provide real-time data to forces, limit casualties and increase situational awareness data, information and intelligence.
UAVs are geared for missions that are dull, dirty and dangerous, Morrow said. Before we send in our troops, they can survey an area and check it out for hostile forces or weaponry. UAVs provide a constant vigil over our forces and battle damage assessments. The key is our forces having accessibility to these capabilities and sound integration into the campaign. UAVs not only increase mission success but also help bring our troops home safely from the war zone.
The commercial market is also exploring more uses for unmanned systems, in such areas as crop dusting, mapping and surveying areas and in communication relays.
I chose SENTEL because I saw this company as the best, most primary instrument to give solutions back to our operators, overall military operations and the war on terrorism, Morrow said. SENTEL is attacking all the Achilles’ heels that are confronting our military operations and providing innovative solutions to the commercial market as well.
Before joining SENTEL, Morrow worked as a research associate for unmanned capabilities at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Inc., one of the nation’s premier institutes focusing on topics related to cognition in humans and machines.
Previously, she headed long-term strategic management of plans, programs and policy at the Air Force Special Operations Command in Hurlburt Field, FL. She was the Air Force lead officer for all small unmanned solutions, and her expertise on UAVs proved pivotal during war on terrorism special operations missions.
Morrow graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in education and received her commission from the Air Force ROTC Air Science program.
She is based in SENTEL’s office at Fort Walton, FL, and will also work from its headquarters in Alexandria, VA.
