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Brad Stine |
A New Generation of GPS
Brad Stine
April 2008
Former Air Force Engineering Officer Brad Stine devoted much of
his 20-year military career to working on space and missile programs.
Now a MITRE employee at the corporation's El Segundo, California,
site, Stine assists the Global Positioning Systems Wing (GPSW) at
the Los Angeles Air Force Base, in the development and eventual
deployment of GPS III. An extremely large program with many possible
applications and capabilities, the goal of GPS III is to establish
"a cost-effective system that will meet the next generation military
and civilian navigation, timing, and positioning needs."
Stine first learned of MITRE in 2004 during his last assignment
with the Air Force. "I had the good fortune of working with some
top-notch MITRE people at the Space and Missile Systems Center [SMC]
at the Los Angeles AFB. At SMC, MITRE was a niche provider for support
to communications, information, and command and control. I was impressed
with the knowledge and capabilities of the MITRE team and found
their enthusiasm to be compelling."
After retiring from the military, Stine decided that MITRE would
be the good place for him to begin his post-military career. He
joined the company in 2005 and has been supporting the GPS III effort
ever since.
The GPS III Program
MITRE's support to the continued development and modernization
of GPS started more than 15 years ago and continues to this day.
MITRE staff from across the corporation provide support to many
aspects of the development and deployment of GPS III, which is the
latest generation of the system. Stine's portion is focused on system
integration.
MITRE's El Segundo, California site
Established in 1993, MITRE's El Segundo, California,
site is located in close proximity to Los Angeles AFB,
in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. The 28 staff there
support the site's primary customers, the Los Angeles
Air Force Base Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC),
GPS wing (SMC/GP), and Space Superiority wing (SMC/SY). |
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"I'm supporting the integration effort between the space segment
and control segment, and to some extent the user segment," he says.
"It's systems engineering work in that I'm mostly concerned with
the flow of requirements and the application of processes. I've
also helped write parts of the request for proposal to potential
contractors, and I'm supporting source selection as well."
Another aspect of Stine's support to GPS III is the production
of an Information Support Plan, or ISP. It's a group effort with
input coming from several MITRE locations. "I'm helping write the
ISP along with others from MITRE's Bedford [Massachusetts] office
and Colorado Springs site," he says. "We're currently reviewing
the architecture products to support the ISP, trying to bring together
the efforts being done with other military customers."
Stine notes that supporting space projects requires a different
outlook compared to many jobs—and a lot more patience. "The
timelines tend to be long to get anything done in space," explains
Stine. "Capabilities described in a 'Capability Description Document'
today will take years to be realized. The government just released
an RFP [request for proposal] for GPS III and expects to award a
contract in 2008. With current schedules, the first GPS III spacecraft
would be launched in 2014. Furthermore, since the GPS architecture
requires a constellation of 24 to 30 spacecraft, and we tend to
launch about three per year, it will take many more years before
users can see any appreciable benefit from anything new introduced
on GPS III. So this line of work is not for those who seek immediate
gratification."
Now two years into his post-military career, Stine is glad he came
to MITRE. "I like that as a civilian I can still make real contributions
to national defense. I find the reach-back to other parts of the
corporation is excellent—I know I can get help when I need
it. It's also clear to me that MITRE emphasizes teamwork and cooperation."
A native of northern California, Stine has gradually adapted to
both civilian life and life in the southern part of the state. He
readily admits that one of the main attractions for moving to El
Segundo was the opportunity to work at the SMC again. On a more
personal note, he also met his wife in southern California. They
were married last summer with many of the site's staff attending
the festivities.
In addition, civilian life and MITRE's flexible schedule allow
Stine to more actively pursue his lifelong love of music. "I sing
in a local community chorus of about 60 singers. The group is called
'Los Cancioneros'—it's a non-profit organization and right
now I'm serving as president. We put on four shows a year and also
award scholarships to promising music students in the spring. The
flexible schedule I have at MITRE allows me to do all that and more."
—by Kay M. Upham
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