military

Guest Author: Brett Hall is a Cisco Customer Solutions Architect and veteran. He currently leads the architectural strategy for the United States Army in CONUS, SWA, and Europe. He PCS’ed from the U.S. Army in 1999, after serving as a Signal Soldier in the 35th Signal Brigade 51st Signal Battalion (…

Guest Author: Gus Mendiola is a Cisco Systems Engineering Manager and veteran. He currently leads a team of engineers supporting the United States Army in CONUS, SWA, and Europe. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2013, after serving as a Platoon Leader, Company Commander, and in other leadership posi…

Co-author: Chad Mitchel  |  DoD Technical Solutions Architect at Cisco     The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has long been on the forefront of technology innovation when it comes to increasing mission success. But as technology evolves, so does the cybersecurity threat landscape. This m…

In honor of Veterans Day, we’ve asked veteran Naval Officer Tina Swallow, a current Cisco leader, to share her story of service in both the U.S. Navy and in the private sector. A long line of Naval service continues I was born in Newport, Rhode Island when my father was studying at the Naval War Co…

As you watch the leaves begin to fall and send the kids back to school, you may also be enjoying one or more of the local festivals or state fairs that are traditionally held this time of year. For those of you who may not know, these events were originally held to celebrate the harvest, and share i…

How do you get through a 12-month deployment with the US Army to the Middle East? For me, much of it was through my Cisco Family. As you can imagine, life in a combat theater can be quite lonely, especially for a person of my rank, Command Sergeant Major. The good news is that, after having been dep…

How many of us know someone in the armed forces? Probably a few, but not many (I know I hadn’t before meeting my husband back in 2000). How many know someone musical, perhaps in a band? I expect this may get a few more head nods than my first question, but still not many. My first post introduced yo…

I entered the United States Marine Corps as a communications radio repair guy, which sounds pretty easy, right? But once you get in country, none of that really matters and during three tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom I saw combat each time. Life has a way of always changing regardless o…

Veterans, Thank you. Thank you for your service to our country. Thank you for the sacrifices you make for all of us. And thank you for our freedoms. With all of you, past and present, we have an amazing country in which to live, liberties many others do not experience, and the opportunities many oth…