2021 Acquisition Analytics for Counter UAS Workshop

Director,
C-UAS PMO (Program Management Office),
DHS HQ

Brent assumed the role of Director for the Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Program Management Office (PMO) in March of 2020. The Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Program Management Office (PMO) drives the implementation and management of the statutory requirements found in the Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018 (“the Act”) and is the Department’s single Point of Contact for Congressional and Interagency C-UAS issues. The PMO develops policy and guidance, enables operational and support missions, manages Interagency partnerships, and integrates strategic-level planning into daily workstreams. The PMO vision includes a fully integrated National Airspace System (NAS) enabling recreational and commercial UAS operations through an Interagency approach to air domain awareness, threat discrimination, and the ability to counter noncompliant and nefarious actors posing risk to the Homeland.

Prior to joining DHS Headquarters, Brent was Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator (DAA) for the Office of Inspection (OOI), after holding several positions within OOI, including Senior Advisor and Branch Manager in the Special Operations Division (SOD).

Mr. Cotton’s security career began during the TSA rollout in 2002, where he trained the first federalized screeners. After the rollout, Brent played an active role in developing and implementing the On-Screen Alarm Resolution Protocol (OSARP) for checked baggage. After arriving at headquarters in 2010, Mr. Cotton was part of the Operations Improvement Branch (OIB) where he helped TSA solve problems associated with rolling out new equipment and procedures. Identified as an unconventional thinker willing to challenge assumptions, Mr. Cotton was recruited as a member of the Risk Based Security Team to create new and innovative approaches to airport security, including TSA Precheck.

Chair of ASA(ALT)’s Board on Army RDT&E,
Systems Acquisition, and Logistics (BARSL),
“Challenges in Assessing Counter-sUAS Systems for DoD and DHS”

Mr. Albert A. Sciarretta, PE, is President of and sole performer within CNS Technologies, Inc. In this position, he works primarily as an independent consultant to various organizations. For more than 35 years, as a U.S. Army officer (retired as a Lieutenant Colonel) and civilian contractor, he has used his operational, research and development, operations research, prototyping and experimentation, mechanical engineering, and human performance assessment experience to assess the military benefits of technologies and develop technology investment strategies.

As a consultant to the DoD Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), he has served more than 17 years as a subject matter expert (SME) for advanced test technologies. Most recently, he is assisting TRMC in identifying test range infrastructure needs for testing counter-small aircraft system (C-sUAS) systems. In another consulting job, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has asked Mr. Sciarretta to design and execute two tests at Federal Correctional Complexes: 1) a test of C-sUAS systems and 2) a test of devices designed to remotely detect cell phones in federal prison facilities.

Mr. Sciarretta chaired the 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) ad hoc study on “Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS) Capability for Battalion-and-Below Operations.” The committee report has been downloaded all over the world and is in the top 8 percent of National Academy Press downloads. He previously served as a committee member for six separate NASEM studies, including “Technology Development for Army Unmanned Ground Vehicle,” “Advanced Energetic Materials,” and “Making the Soldier Decisive on Future Battlefields.” He is currently a member of the NASEM Board on Army Research and Development (BOARD), a member of the NASEM Intelligence Science and Technology Experts Group (ISTEG), and the Chair of the ASA(ALT) Board on Army RDT&E, System Acquisition, and Logistics (BARSL).