Originally from Alden, New York, COL Jeff Strauss is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Construction Science. He is also a graduate of the Officer Basic Course, Captains Career Course, and Command and General Staff College. In addition to his formal military education COL Strauss holds Master’s Degrees in National Security and Resource Strategy from The Dwight D. Eisenhower School and in Cybersecurity from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County along with Program Management Professional certification. As a Transportation Corps officer, COL Strauss’ first assignment was with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Polk, Louisiana where he served as a Platoon Leader, Troop Executive Officer, Squadron S1, and Regimental Support Operations Officer including deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon graduation form the Combined Logistics Captains Career Course COL Strauss was assigned to the 589th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Fires Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) where he held staff positions as the Brigade Supply and Services Officer and Battalion S-1 before assuming command of Alpha Company for 28 months to include a second combat deployment to Baghdad, Iraq as part of OIF 05-07. Later, COL Strauss transitioned to the Acquisition Corps and the US Army Operational Test Command where he conducted numerous operational assessments in support of rapid fielding initiatives for counter-IED robotics and deployed to Afghanistan with the Forward Operational Assessment Team. Other Acquisition assignments include Assistant Product Manager roles for the Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance Aircraft in direct support of Task Force ODIN with Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors and Assistant Product Manager for the Command Post Computing Environment (CP CE) for the Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical. COL Strauss also served as the Senior Acquisition Advisor in the Survivability Evaluation Directorate, US Army Evaluation Center focusing on live fire and cyber survivability testing. COL Strauss was the Joint Product Manager for Reconnaissance and Platform Integration (RP&I) in the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense and was recognized as the 2020 Army Acquisition Executive’s Excellence in Leadership Award winner for Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year (O5 Level). His most recent assignment was as, Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. COL Strauss currently serves as the Military Deputy for Acquisitions at the Defense Information Systems Agency. COL Strauss’ awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, three Bronze Star Medals, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, six Meritorious Service Medals, the Army Commendation Medal, two Army Achievement Medals, the Combat Action Badge, the Parachutist Badge, and numerous unit, service, and campaign awards from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. COL Strauss was among the 2013 Team C4ISR Top 10 Employee of the Year. COL Strauss has also been inducted in to the prestigious military regimental Orders of the Dragon (Chemical), St. Michael’s (Aviation), St. Barbra’s (Field Artillery), and St. Christopher’s (Transportation).

Mark joined By Light in 2012 as the Chief Technology Officer of the company's Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) vertical to align and grow By Light's expertise in delivering best in class network and cybersecurity services. His responsibilities include business development, capture, and technical innovation across the vertical. Mark has over 25 years of network and security engineering expertise and has assisted DISA and various Intelligence Community customers in architecting their global private networks. Prior to joining By Light, Mark held varying positions with CenturyLink, to include Network Chief Engineer, Sales Engineering Director, and Sales Manager. Mark earned a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering specializing in optics from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. James Matney has over 35 years working in the military and federal government contracting industry in a variety of senior leadership positions. Dr. Matney currently serves as the Vice President of Strategy for General Dynamics Information Technology’s (GDIT) Defense Division. In this role, Dr. Matney is responsible for developing and driving GDIT’s DoD strategy, working throughout the department on digital modernization initiatives. He has extensive knowledge and experience leading programs supporting the DoD and implementing innovative solutions and emerging technologies. His career encompasses broad experience implementing enterprise solutions that include systems engineering and integration, software engineering and development, digital engineering, enterprise resource planning (ERP), network operations, cloud architectures, information assurance, cybersecurity, satellite communications, and IT services management.

Prior to joining the Defense Division at GDIT, Dr. Matney began his career in IT with the Air Force, spending half of his career as a Telecommunications/Computer Specialist in the Enlisted Ranks and finishing out his 25-year career as a Communications Officer. After retiring from the Air Force, he became a government civilian at US Pacific Command (PACOM) where he led a technical team responsible for promoting optimal functionality across collaboration software, information management, knowledge management, and emerging technologies for the US Navy. He also deployed to Iraq with the Army where he was the advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense (I-MoD) Chief Information Officer (CIO). Following his deployment in Iraq, he supported Operation Tomodachi and led the design and development of collaboration solutions for the U.S. Forces and Japan, working with Google, local Japanese, and the Joint Task Force.

In the federal government contracting industry, Dr. Matney began at URS/AECOM as a Program Manager of the Unmanned Aerial Squadron Operations Center Support (UASOCS) contract, providing IT support for the Air Force’s Predator/Reaper program. He later went on to GDIT (formerly CSRA, SRA) where he was the Chief Architect for the Defense Division, directly contributing to the successful capture of new business. He then went onto Engility to lead their corporate technology and innovation organization. After the SAIC acquisition of Engility, he led their enterprise solutions architect team and established a corporate-wide Solution Development Process.

Dr. Matney holds a Doctorate in Computer Science with a concentration in cybersecurity and a Master of Science in Management (Information Technology) from Colorado Technical University and Bachelor of Science in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland Global Campus. In addition, he holds the following certifications: Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and Project Management Professional (PMP).

Charles Buechel is an accomplished program manager and intelligence analyst with more than 20 years of experience supporting the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. He currently serves as Vice President and Division Manager for the $11.5B Defense Enclave Services program within the DISA IT Business Area at Leidos. In this role, he is responsible for developing strategic business priorities, managing customer relationships, and delivering strong program performance for the 10-year contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). He leads a team charged with unifying 22 Fourth Estate DoD Agencies and Field Activities (DAFAs) across 500 sites in both the U.S. and abroad on a common network architecture to provide mission services focused on enhanced user experience, improved capabilities, and network reliability for more than 370,000 end users. His team is responsible for executing the network optimization and migration actions onto the modernized network, DoDNet, which is a cost-effective, defendable network that increases network reliability and security throughout the department. Prior to joining Leidos, he served as a Department of Defense intelligence analyst providing all-source analytic support to national-level policymakers supporting the Global War on Terror (GWOT), counter proliferation, and other U.S. government priorities. He provided strategic and tactical intelligence to military commands ensuring coordination of missions during his deployments in support of combat operations in the Central Command Theater of Operations.