Barling Bay Beacon
THE
February/March 2010 Newsletter
IN THIS
ISSUE:
Information
Assurance Aware
— page 2
Security Matters
— page 3
Consulting 101
— page 4
Advisor Advice
— page 5
Stafford 2nd
in Toastmaster
Contest
— page 6
Time is Money
— page 6
Taking the Polar
Plunge!
— page 7
Pink in the Rink
— page 8
Here We Grow
Again
— page 9
Special
Announcement
— page 9
Women’s History
Month
— page 10
Forge.mil Finalist for Excellence in Government
Award
On March 18,
2010, Forge.mil
was notified by
the
American
Council
on
Technology (ACT) of its selection as a finalist
for the coveted Excellence in Government
Award. Barling Bay employees, Tyler
Drinkard, Bert Giehart, David Gissentanna,
Joseph Hall, and Dr. Michael Joost have
been assigned this project. The Defense
Information Systems Agency (DISA) is the
customer.
Barling Bay provides system administrator
support and is responsible for the Linux
operating system and applications, the
virtual infrastructure (cloud computing)
and maintaining system integrity, security
and availability as well as branding and
graphics services.
The nomination citation states, “Forge.
mil provides a collaborative software
development environment that accelerates
the development and deployment of DoD
software and systems. It enables an agile
software development approach modeled
on an open source software development
approach,
cloud
computing
and
commercial best practices. Using Forge.mil,
DoD development efforts can immediately
begin prototype development and rapidly
evolve capabilities through collaboration
with all stakeholders.”
The Excellence in Government Awards
Program was established by ACT’s Industry
Advisory Council to recognize best practices
in the federal government’s management
and use of information technology and to
recognize professionals and their managers
– who have achieved exceptional results
in the management of IT in support of the
government’s mission and ability to serve
its citizens.
Congratulations Team Barling Bay!
CUSTOMER FOCUSED- KEY TO THE DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE, PERSONNEL SECURITY GROUP
PROJECT
By Marsha Hassell
Director, Corporate Communications
“We never take things for granted. We
want to know when they’re unhappy about
something, and what we can do to correct
it…not only what to do, but, if we can
correct something…we just do it. Our goal
is keeping the customer happy”, said Robin
Farmer, Personnel Security Specialist.
Facing a mounting challenge processing
employee and contractor background
checks, updating and purging case
files, converting files and gathering and
preparing statistical data, the Department
of Justice knew it could use some help. So,
on August 25, 2009, Barling Bay, LLC began
continued on page 2
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CUSTOMER FOCUSED, continued from page 1
Robert F. Kennedy, Department of Justice Building,
Washington, DC
working with the Department of Justice, Personnel
Security Group (PERSG) to provide administrative
and adjudication support.
The Barling Bay staff of three Personnel Security
Specialists and two Data Technicians is led by Farmer.
The group is located at 20 Massachusetts Avenue,NW
Washington, DC where they work with 17 federal
employees and 8 other contractor personnel.
Farmer explained that they quickly began
assessing the customer’s needs. Something as simple
as “speaking up” she said was enlightening. “After
reading Raving Fans and participating in the training
session, we’ve learned to speak up which gave us a
better perspective on what to do for the customer”,
said Farmer.
Jannelle Hutcherson and Brian Blair are the Data
Technicians. They convert documents by entering
data into the computer via scanner or keyboard. They
retrieve and file cases for the Security Specialists,
gather and prepare statistical data and prepare cases
for destruction. Jannelle recently completed the
Personnel Suitability Course.
Alan Lasser and Gerald Butts, also Personnel
Security Specialists, are responsible for making
suitability recommendations for prospective
employees and contractors.
Robin says the group is now working to reach the
mandated policy of adjudicating case(s) within 30
days. “
“Because of Raving Fans, we’ve learned what
customers want and how to work towards providing
the need plus more. Throughout this process, we
have learned skills which enabled us to become
more customer oriented. We feel strongly that
we have made the efforts to accomplish this task”,
Farmer said.
Way to go, Team Barling Bay!
Information Assurance Aware
Rob Ashworth, Director,
Information Assurance
Barling Bay, LLC Releases Guidance for Destroying Sensitive
Information
Barling Bay has many customers presently and
more to come! Some of these customers call sensitive
unclassified information by different names. Some
still use the general term “Sensitive but Unclassified”
(SBU), others use the more current term “Controlled
Unclassified Information” (CUI). We use these general
terms to refer collectively to sensitive types of
information such as “For Official Use Only”, “Limited
Official Use”, “Personal Identifiable Information”,
“Proprietary Information”, “Contractually Sensitive
Information”, and others. Normally, we will follow
our customer’s terms for such information that must
be controlled from general disclosure.
On February 16, 2010, Barling Bay released internal
guidance on the destruction of CUI. However, this
guidance is for use as a possible approved method
for appropriate destruction of information when, destruction is necessary. Guidance is not firm policy,
but instead is provided as “the Barling Bay preferred
method”, when specific methods are not directed
by customer or partner per contract, policy, or other
agreement (e.g., per Teaming Agreement, Sub-Contracting Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding, etc). The guidance document for Barling Bay
personnel clearing of CUI does not pertain in any
way to anything dealing with Government classified
information.
Barling Bay contracts with our Government
continued on page 3
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INFORMATION ASSURANCE AWARE, continued from page 2
customers
(e.g.,
SPAWAR), each require
compliance
with their security
policies and practices; therefore, when
so indicated in our
contract, use of Barling Bay procedures
are superseded for
the destruction of
Controlled Unclassified Information
(CUI) (e.g., PII, FOUO,
contractually sensitive, proprietary, etc) by the Government department, branch, service, or agency requirements. Also, as guidance and not policy, our
Barling Bay procedures do not preclude the use of
alternative approved methods for appropriate conduct of the guidance subject.
The procedures themselves have been uploaded to
the “Barling Bay Staff Resources” within SharePoint,
under “Policies” then under “Guidance Documents”.
Note: If have questions or need additional
information, please contact Rob Ashworth at
(C) 843-224-6822, (o) 843-725-6836 or email
[email protected].
Coming Soon ... IA Community of Practice (CoP)
Barling Bay will formally establish an IA Community of Practice (CoP). Once started, the
CoP you will be officially notified and we will have regularly scheduled meetings to help
broaden this core competency. One of our initial focuses will be on incident handling and
computer forensics
Security Matters
Going Overseas?
Maybe you’re travelling overseas for work or for
pleasure. Did you know you should inform Beverly
Buswell, Facility Security Officer, Three Saints Bay,
what countries you are visiting? Here are some do’s
and don’t’s to remember when travelling overseas:
•
•
•
Do not publicize travel plans and limit sharing of
this information to people who need to know.
Conduct pre-travel security briefings with
Beverly Buswell.
Maintain control of sensitive information and
media / equipment. Do not pack these types of
articles in checked baggage. Carry them with
you at all times. Don’t leave them unattended
in hotel rooms or stored in hotel safes.
• Keep hotel room doors locked. Note how the
room looks when you leave.
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• Limit sensitive discussions. Public areas are
rarely suitable for discussion of sensitive
information.
• Do not use computer or fax equipment
at foreign hotels or business centers
for sensitive matters.
• Do ignore or deflect intrusive or suspect
inquiries or conversations about
professional or personal matters.
• Do keep unwanted (no longer needed) sensitive
material until it can be disposed of securely.
Have questions or need to discuss your travel
plans? Beverly Buswell can be reached at at (843)
725-6805 or [email protected].
Note: This is first in a series of short articles about Security
and travelling overseas.
Consulting 101 - Lesson 3
Rob Ashworth,
Director, Information Assurance
In this lesson of Consulting 101, we continue the
discussion on presenting ourselves in our written
or oral communications. There are two points to
this article, “Quality is job #1” and the use of double
negatives.
As a consumer, we all want top quality at a low
price, but understand that you should get what
you pay for. Therefore, we either want minimally
acceptable quality at a low price, or high quaity at
an equitable price. Our customers want the same,
and to ensure we have Raving Fans for customers,
we must ensure our attention to detail. I’ve seen
documents where in our haste, even that of our
top executives, we don’t apply complete attention
to detail (I am first in line to admit to this myself ).
However, please understand that while we should
only deliver completely correct documents
(syntactically, grammatically, and factually) we have
resources to help us do this.
The bigger the correspondence or a written
deliverable becomes, the more likely that there
are errors. The writer is often too close to the
document to see them, therefore, a second review
should be done. Reviewers should flag problems,
and may do light editing, but heavy editing should
be coordinated directly with the writer, because
we don’t want the reviewer to modify the intent
to something that the customer is not expecting.
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A good way to do this
is to provide margin
comments on a separate
paper that references
the paragraph and the
rewrite. The writer can
then cut and paste the
verbiage.
Also, take
advantage of grammar
and spelling services provided by MS Word.
A problem I don’t see in Barling Bay, but have
noticed with others in the past, is the use of doublenegatives.
However, in standard English, the two negatives
actually cancel each other out, for example “I can’t
get no satisfaction.” This does not actually mean that
“the person doesn’t get satisfied”; similarly, it does
not mean that “the person can get no satisfaction
from something”. Since the “no” cancels out the
“can’t” (can not), It actually means that the person is
consistently satisfied, which is not what Mick means.
Another example is the famous Western where an
actor says “We don’t need no stinking badges”,
with the thought that this would be the same as
“We don’t need badges”, or “We need no badges”.
However, saying “we don’t need no badges” actually
equates in standard English to “we need badges”,
because the negatives cancel each other out, similar
to “absolute value” in mathematics.
In Spanish (and some dialects of English) the more
negative you make a statement, the more negative
it becomes, as the negatives are seen as reinforcing
rather than contradicting each other. For example
“Yo no tengo.” means I don’t have it. “Yo tengo
nada”, literally means “I have nothing”; however it’s
reinforced by combining this in proper Spanish as
“Yo no tengo nada”.
In summary, regardless of who you are
communicating with, how you present yourself
reflects on you as well as Barling Bay.
A Little Advice from Our Advisors…
From the Desk of: Glenn Stafford
Mentor/Learning Advisor
By now there
has
been
an
announcement
regarding my
willingness
to accept the role
and responsibilities
of the Mentor/
Learning Advisor
position.
My
immediate goals
are to establish a
Technical Library
and implement various education programs which
are approved and endorsed by Barling Bay.
Recently I discussed with Bob Bush the benefits
for us to be involved in programs that will develop
sound communication and leadership skills. One
program that is worth the investment in developing
these skills is joining Toastmasters. Barling Bay has
agreed to pay the dues for joining the SPAWAR
Systems Center, Charleston Club. Everyone is strongly
encouraged to take advantage of this program.
According to Dr. Ralph Smedley, the founder of
Toastmasters, “the ability to communicate is one of
a person’s greatest endowments…My belief in the
principles of learning through doing and improving
through criticism led to the use of methods which
have served through all the years of work of the
Toastmaster clubs”. The success of this program
speaks for itself when Toastmasters International
includes 235,000 members involving 11,700 clubs
spanning 92 countries.
Improving your speaking skills will enrich your life
immensely. This includes improvement in the areas
of:
1. Discovery of your hidden abilities of speaking.
2. Helps in the integration of your personality.
3. Develops your leadership traits and abilities
Orison S. Marden, an American writer, had this
conception regarding speech training when he wrote:
“The ability to talk well is to a man what cutting and
polishing are to the rough diamond. The grinding
does not add anything to the diamond. It merely
reveals its wealth.” May I extend an invitation for
everyone to take advantage and join Toastmasters!
Let us take the journey to fine tune the God-given
talents to communicate (and lead) by participating
in this educational opportunity that Barling Bay is
extending to us all!. Feel free to contact me with your
suggestions at, [email protected].
Did You Know … ?
First projection of an image on a screen
Joseph Necephore Niepce developed the world’s first photographic
image in 1827. In 1839 Frenchman Louis Jacques Daguerre introduced
a better photographic process and in the same year Englishman William
Fox Talbot discovered the process of using negatives and positives to
develop photographs. American George Eastman invented the paper
film roll for photography in 1885. In 1894 Americans Thomas Edison and
W K L Dickson introduced the first film camera. In the next year French
brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere demonstrated a projector system in
Paris, screening Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon, the first public movie. It
was 46 seconds in duration.
But the very first projection of an image on a screen was made by a
German priest. In 1646, Athanasius Kircher used a candle or oil lamp to
project hand-painted images onto a white screen.
(Source: http://www.didyouknow.org)
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Auguste and Louis Lumière, inventors of the movie
camera, three-color screen photography, and first
movie producers.
Stafford Places in Second in Toastmasters International
Speech Contest
By Marsha Hassell
Director, Corporate Communications
Glenn Stafford, Barling Bay
employee and self-proclaimed,
“Toastmaster-Aholic
“placed
second in Toastmasters’ District 58
Division “F” International Speech
Contest held March 6, 2010. The
event was held at the Charleston
County Library where there was an
audience of some 80 individuals.
He delivered a provocative speech entitled,
“Right Brain Thinkers!”, the purpose of which was to
address what he considers to be “myths” surrounding
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). An accomplished
Toastmaster,
Glenn
has
now placed at the Area and
Division levels in all sanction
Toastmasters’
International
contests to include, Table
Topics, Evaluation, Humorous,
and International.
For more information or
to join the SPAWAR, Atlantic
Toastmasters club, contact
Glenn Stafford at gstafford@
barlingbay.com .
“Speaking skills must be developed in all of us. There is no such thing as a natural born
speaker. Everyone must develop this skill. This is why Toastmasters success far exceeds
any other program.” — Glenn Stafford
DOING WHAT’S RIGHT IN OUR COMMUNITY
Time is Money
We all know it’s not easy remembering to log in to Deltek
and record time. Well, Tom Ruff, Principal Engineer, saw this as
an opportunity to give back to the community and challenge
his employees to “clock-in”.
In support of Devon Forest Elementary School, where his
daughter is a student, Tom donates $1 to the American Heart
Association’s, “Jump Rope for Life” event each day his team
passes floor check. He will donate through March 2010.
About “Jump Rope for Life”
“Jump Rope for Life” is an American Heart Association
event geared toward children. In addition to raising money,
children also learn about the heart through participation in
a “Jump Rope for Life” activity. To learn more about this event
and how you can contribute or to get your child’s school
involved, visit http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.
jhtml?identifier=2360)
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DOING WHAT’S RIGHT IN OUR COMMUNITY
Taking the Polar Plunge!
On Saturday, January 30, 2010 a few brave souls…
EXCEPTIONALLY, brave souls… answered the call and
took the “plunge” in support of Maryland’s Special
Olympics. Blogger and Barling Bayer, Tiffany Josephs,
recalls that fateful, snowy and very cold day in the
Chesapeake Bay...
“Hello everyone,
Most of Saturday came as a surprise. Just when we
thought we were ready to plunge into the Chesapeake
Bay in the insanely cold temperatures, it started to snow.
REALLY snow. I was dressing my kids to take them to the
babysitter we had arranged (too cold to take the kids!) and
I noticed the gentle flakes coming down. “No big deal” I
thought. The weather
report only predicted
an inch or so.
Well, by the time
we got out of our
community
we
realized this was not
a small deal.
On
the highways, cars
were sprawled into
ditches and others
couldn’t get off ramps
that were barely on
Ben Landers getting ready to “take an incline. We saw
the plunge”…
trucks with 4 wheel
drive spinning out
everywhere and accidents left and right. We couldn’t
figure out where the snow plows were, and concluded
they must not have expected that much snow. When we
couldn’t get off the beltway due to the pileups on the exits
ramps, we called the Plunging team to think of Plan B.
That plan included a rescheduled plunge, since Brad
and I had to get back to our kids safely (it had taken us
2 hours just to get 20 miles!) After turning around (not
an easy task) we made it home to the incredible news
that Ben Landers, Courtney Gilbert, and Janet Keys had
already taken their own plunge in the Chesapeake near
Janet’s home - the snow couldn’t stop them! Inspired,
now Bradley and I are thinking of where we can jump (or
wade?) in the Potomac for our own “private plunge”...
I said in the beginning of all of this that if nothing else,
this would be a great memory that we’d never forget.
Just being out on the highways that day was memorable
enough! I’m so grateful for the determination and great
hearts of our team mates, and for those of you who
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Ben Landers leads Courtney and Janet.
Left to right, Ben Landers, Janet Keys and Courtney
Gilbert take the plunge!
weren’t able to make it, but were cheering us on.
There is so much more to look forward to this year,
with the Pink in the Rink the end of this new month, and
the extremely popular National Race for the Cure the first
Saturday in June.
Many “warm” wishes to you all! “
The team raised, just under 1K. “WAY TO GO, TEAM
BARLING BAY!”
Note: Tiffany and her husband, Bradley Josephs, took
the plunge Sunday, February 28, 2010. Tiffany chairs
the Barling Bay “Doing what’s Right” in the Community
Initiative.
Bradley and Tiffany Josephs
getting ready to take the
plunge…
The Josephs exiting the
Chesapeake Bay. “Wow…it’s
colder than they thought!”
Pink in the Rink
By Nicholas Carden,
Financial Support Specialist
For company endorsed events like this,
coordinators hope for everything to go off without a
hitch. Unfortunately, before the game started traffic
was horrible and getting into the parking lots was
a challenge due to a scheduling conflict between
the game and the Lord of the Dance event, which
started within an hour of the puck dropping.
However, that negative energy was quickly
forgotten and the main reason for being there was
to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s fight
bring the Kelly Cup to Charleston for a consecutive
year.
Between periods, the fans attention were drawn
to the pink ice for pink puck giveaways. Cancer
survivors made their way to the ice and were
given pink sticks by players and the players said
a few words to the audience expressing sincere
appreciation for the support of hockey and breast
cancer research.
Overall, the event was successful! Hopefully we
It’s “Pink in the Rink” — Photo by Vin Duffy
against Breast Cancer. Once inside the Coliseum,
fans were bustling to get hot dogs, Papa John’s
pizza, and the all mighty beverage of choice for
the evening. Everywhere you looked around the
concourse there was something related to “the
Cure,” whether it be a fan wearing pink or a poster
a child had created in support of the beneficiary for
the night.
It was a sell-out crowd and the home-team
players dominated the game with the help of the
energy from attendees. Cheering, hostile fans
blasted Walleye goalie Alec Richards after the first
couple of goals slipped by him; but then he let
four more goals in, capping the evening with a 6-0
shutout performance of the third place American
League North team. The South Carolina Stingrays
are in a commanding lead of the American League
South and look to play the leading Elmira Jackals to
be crowned the American League champions and
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can get more Bay’ers out to participate in a night
of FUN community involvement. The next event
on March 12, 2010 will be for a cause slightly more
related to what Barling Bay does, “Military Night”
with the South Carolina Stingrays!
Stingrays present survivors with pink hockey stick.
— Photo by Vin Duffy
Here We “Grow” Again
Announcements
WELCOME ABOARD!!
PHOTO
UNAVAILABLE
Name: Anthony Pratapas
Date of hire: January 4, 2010
Work Title: Principle Consultant
Your work location:
Washington, DC
Your work phone: 571-483-1074
Your work email:
[email protected]
Who’s your customer:
Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA)
Name: Jeffrey M. Coney
Date of hire: December 18, 2009
Work Title: Security Analyst
Your work location:
Gaithersburg MD
Your work phone:
(301) 355-5577
Your work email:
[email protected]
Who’s your customer:
Department of Commerce (DOC)
Office of Financial
Management (OFM)
Commerce Business
Systems (CBS) (CSC)
Hobby(s):
Stamp Collecting – U.S. with
just a few from abroad.
Wood Working – Garages
to candle stick holders and
everything in-between.
“I’m a Grandpa!”
Welcome Aiden!
Aiden Davis Cumbee was born,
February 13, 2010 to Brent and
Anslee Cumbie.
Brent is in the Army and is
currently at Ft. Gordon, Georgia
for Advanced Individual training
(AIT) as a Signal Systems Specialist.
Mom and Baby are in Pearson,
Georgia with her mom until he
completes his training.
Proud grandpa is Mark Baxley,
Management Analyst, Barling Bay,
LLC.
PHOTO
UNAVAILABLE
Name: Gerald Butts
Date of hire: September 2009
Work Title:
Principle Security Consultant
Your work location:
Washington, DC
Your work email:
[email protected]
Who’s your customer:
Department of Justice (DOJ),
Personnel Security Group (PERSG)
Name: Andrea “Danielle” Baker
Date of hire: June 28, 2009
Work Title: Financial
Support Specialist
Your work location: SPAWAR
Systems Center Atlantic
Your work phone:
843-218-5119
Your work email:
[email protected]
Who’s your customer:
Military Health Systems
Hobby(s): puzzles,
exercise, and reading
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“Belated Welcome!”
Brianna Summers
Born June 23, 2009, daughter
of Renee N. Summers
Personnel Security Assistant,
Personnel Security Section/ISR,
DEA Headquarters.
National Women’s History Month
“Writing Woman Back into History”
Women in Defense - Writing Lowcountry Women into The Present
A little over a year ago,
a core group of women
working in Charleston’s
Defense industry gathered
to discuss the establishment
of a Women In Defense
(WID) Chapter.
Soon
afterwards, The Palmetto
Chapter was chartered
March 9, 2009 and has now
grown to over 100 members.
Some 50+ members and
guests gathered to mark
the occasion with a 1-Year anniversary celebration
held on Friday, February 19, 2010 at the Charleston
Harbor Resort.
Community oriented, the Palmetto Chapter
sponsors speakers at its monthly luncheons, hosted
a Veteran’s Day recognition luncheon to honor local
retired and active duty service members, sponsored
a Small Business Track during the Charleston Defense
Contractor Association’s 2009 3th Annual C5ISR
Government & Industry Conference, donated coats
during the “Warm Coats, Warm Hearts” and toys
during the Marine Corps “Toys for Tots” drives and
sponsored a team for the 2009 Susan Komen “Race
for the Cure”. The Chapter is currently planning to
participate in a June 2010 River Dogs baseball event
which will focus on women in the Defense industry.
The Chapter continues its story…
Interested in learning more about Women’s History
Month? Visit http://www.nwhp.org/whm/index.php.
About Women in Defense — Women In Defense (WID),
a National Security Organization and an affiliate of the
National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), cultivates
and supports the advancement and recognition of women
in all aspects of national security. Part of a non-profit
organization, WID was established in 1985 to provide women
a formal environment for professional growth through
networking, education, and career development.
Tara Marlow is Warrior of the Week
The U.S. Department of the Navy Warrior of the Week
award program recognizes the exemplary performance and
competence of the Navy’s most professional Sailors. If you
consider that there are close to 4,400 Sailors serving onboard
the Dwight D Eisenhower (IKE) aircraft carrier, you can
appreciate the significance of this award.
Duty onboard an aircraft carrier is extremely demanding
and inherently dangerous; it takes a special kind of person
to endure the hardships of sea duty. Tara Marlow, daughter
of Barling Bay employee Shanna Wilcox, has been formally
recognized by the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Navy as
the “Warrior of the Week” for not only enduring but excelling Capt. Roy J. Kelley, Commander, Carrier Air Wing
at meeting the challenges and hardships of duty at sea. Tara (CVW) 7, presents Tara with citation.
was also commended for her dedicated contributions to the
combat readiness of the warship, and for inspiring her shipmates to “make IKE greater each day.”
Congratulations to Tara on her achievement!
The Barling Bay Beacon,A Barling Bay, LLC Publication
Marsha Hassell, Corporate Communications
1101 Remount Rd., Suite 100, Charleston, SC 29406 / Phone: (843) 725-6837
[email protected] / www.barlingbay.com
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