Brian D. Steckler

Director, Hastily Formed Networks Research Group
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, CA

Mr. Brian Steckler has over 27 years of experience in Navy communications, over 7 years of experience in managing the interoperability of communications at the government inter-agency level, and another 7 years as a founder of a wired/wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP and W-ISP). He is a world-class and U.S. Department of Defense recognized expert in rapid and mobile wireless network deployment and vulnerability assessment technologies, information technology applications for complex humanitarian disasters, computer network vulnerability assessments, web based information operations, mobile network operation centers, voice verification and recognition technologies, and various broadband internet access device technologies including fixed broadband wireless, ultra wideband, free space optics broadband, and broadband over power lines.

Mr. Steckler is the Director of the Hastily Formed Networks (HFN) Research Group at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey California, and also serves as the NPS Associate Chair for Special Programs. His areas of teaching and research include: basic networking (LAN/WAN), Information Operations to include Computer Network Operations (Computer Network Defense, Attack, and Exploitation), Psychological Operations, Military Deception, Electronic Warfare, Operations Security, and Information Warfare.

Mr. Steckler brings significant operational experience with rapidly deployed wireless communications to the team, focusing on Hastily Formed Networks (HFNs) with both wireless equipment solutions and interoperability at the civil-military boundary. In the past few years, he has led teams of NPS faculty/students and industry partners deploying wireless communications to the Andaman Coast of Thailand a few days after the Dec '04 SE Asia tsunami, and led a much larger team of NPS faculty/students and industry partners to wirelessly enable Bay St Louis and Waveland Mississippi for 5 weeks during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

Brian has also facilitated and deployed NPS faculty/students and communications equipment to SE Asia and South/Central America on the US Navy's two hospital ships (USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort). These two humanitarian outreach missions used the flyway kit equipment suite (WiFi, WiMAX, VSAT, VoIP, LMRoIP) that Mr. Steckler and the NPS HFN Center has prototyped and refined the past 3 years. He was also the overall Communications Director for Strong Angel III, a large scale inter-agency/industry/academia exercise conducted in Summer 2005 that entailed an H5N1 avian flu pandemic in the San Diego CA region, and was sponsored by the DHS Office of Science and Technology and Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (OSD-NII) to both deploy and collect/analyze voice and data traffic during Operation Golden Phoenix, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake scenario training event in Summer 2007 in the Los Angeles Basin. Operation Golden Phoenix was the first-ever combined DHS/DOD training exercise that featured investigating the quality of data/voice interoperability – and the challenges between city/local/county/state and federal (DOD/DHS) early responders. Brian plays a critical role in the planning and execution of similar real-world missions and exercises/training events that are being planned for FY-09 and beyond.

Brian serves as a key member of the NPS Research Opportunities and Development Team (under the NPS Dean of Research). He also represents the Naval Postgraduate School with HQ USPACOM as the NPS / HQ USPACOM Liaison Desk. His overseas experience includes designing and teaching Information Operations courses at the National University of Singapore’s Temasek Defence Systems Institute.

His primary full-time experience in the corporate world was as the founder and CEO of a California business-class Internet Service Provider (ISP) and software engineering firm. He operated that business for 7 years until selling it in the Summer of 2001. Prior to that Brian had a successful 20-year career in the U.S. Navy, ten years as an enlisted Cryptologic Technician and ten years as a Commissioned Officer. During his Navy career he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer, Supply Officer, Communications Officer, Operations Officer, Weapons Officer, CMS Custodian, Mine Countermeasures Officer and Officer of the Deck (underway).

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in 1987 in Business Administration. He received a Masters of Science in Information Technology Management from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994. Brian serves on several boards including a foundation that provides resources to mentally retarded children and adults.

Holds current (updated 2008) TS/SCI Security Clearance with DoD.

Office Address:
Naval Postgraduate School
1411 Cunningham Road
Glasgow Hall, GL-E208
Monterey, CA 93943-5001

NIPR (Unclassified/official) Email: steckler@nps.edu
SIPR (SECRET and below classified) Email: stecklbd@nps.navy.smil.mil
JWICS (TOP SECRET and above) Email: gdstebd@nps.pacom.ic.gov
Personal Email: brian@steckler.com