HSDF THE PODCAST

Driving Transformational Change at DHS - A Conversation with Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz

• Homeland Security & Defense Forum

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Welcome to “HSDF THE PODCAST,” a collection of policy discussions on government technology and homeland security brought to you by the Homeland Security and Defense Forum

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz discusses strategic implementation of artificial intelligence within the government, particularly its transformative impact on the Coast Guard. Discover how modernizing software and enhancing the IT workforce could revolutionize operations, heightening efficiency and effectiveness in domains such as search and rescue.

Featuring:

  • Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz, Deputy CIO, Department of Homeland 
  • Security Luke McCormack, Former CIO, Department of Homeland Security

This discussion took place at the HSDF’s Technology Innovation in Government Symposium on September 26th, 2024. 

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Luke McCormack:

Ademal, it's a pleasure to have you up here and you are the sort of your coming out party, if you will right. You've been over there for a few months, like I always like to say. You found the bathroom and you're getting a lot of direction and some priorities, et cetera. So I thought it would be helpful to just start with tell your story, right? I think it's a really important look. It's not unknown to anyone that you're going to be running this joint pretty soon. You already are to a degree and I think it's always good for people to understand sort of who's sitting in front of them, who's at the uh, who's at the, at the, at the helm great thanks, Luke.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Uh, so I don't know about you, but I just feel like running to my house right now, throwing my flight suit on and trying to find the nearest Coast Guard air station to get in the air. That's uh, I'm all jazzed up after that video. So I'm an operator at heart. I graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1990. And I had a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. But engineering is not necessarily what I wanted to do. I wanted to go out into the fleet. I wanted to do law enforcement, which I was able to do.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

On the video we saw the Coast Guard picking up some Haitian migrants and kind of bringing them to safety. We did a lot of that during the early 90s. We're doing that again now. There's a new wave of migration coming through with with Haitian migrants, Cuban migrants. So I did that for two years I was a deck officer and then really kind of wanted to be at the pointy end of the spear with the Coast Guard and so applied to flight school, was accepted to naval flight training in Pensacola, Florida, and got my wings in 1994. And 1994 is kind of a key date because right now on active duty I'm the longest serving Coast Guard aviator. So that's another ceremonial role that I carry on. So from there I went to, If I may.

Luke McCormack:

you mentioned active duty, but you're the deputy CIO. Do you want to just explain that?

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

nuance. Yeah, so I'm on a military detail to well, right around December or so, beth Capella, the previous deputy CIO, was getting ready to retire and Eric Heisen, the CIO right now, gave me a call and said hey look, beth's leaving. I need somebody with a little bit of experience. It'd be great to get a component CIO to fill her role. I already had orders, verbal orders, so we had to run the traps with the vice common of the Coast Guard to make sure that he was okay with it and we worked through all that and then I took over in February and Beth retired in March. So I am a military detail, but we checked with the OGC and I am legally allowed to be called the principal deputy CIO of the department and you're a Coast Guard officer until.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Right until I get reassigned or retire, retirement's probably close, pretty close. Okay, I've been doing this for just over 34 years right now, and you can't stay in forever Large and in charge.

Luke McCormack:

All right back to flight school.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Yeah, back to flight school. So four aviation tours. My first tour was in North Bend, oregon, which is a big fishing community in the Pacific Northwest, and so we did a lot of search and rescue in not so great weather conditions. And I'll tell you I was just so excited to be able to stand duty and upgrade and really hone my professional flying skills. Same helicopter you drove the whole time Right the H-65, the orange one we saw in the video. I got 3,300 hours in that. So we did that and then transitioned into aeronautical engineering, which is still kind of a flying position, and then from there got orders to polar operations. So I did deploy on Coast Guard icebreakers. My first deployment was a six-and-a-half-month deployment down to Antarctica, which was just epic voyage. Saw so many amazing things, supported the National Science Foundation, went to visit the South Pole Just an amazing, amazing experience working in Antarctica. What's the?

Luke McCormack:

Coast Guard, do down there.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

So McMurdo Station is bound by ice, and so they don't have any sea access unless the ice is broken. And so the Coast Guard icebreaker down there we have two right now, only one is a heavy icebreaker, and so the polar star goes down every winter to break out McMurdo Station and allow one freighter and one oil tanker to replenish the station. And so there's a small contingent of folks that spend the winter down in McMurdo, but mostly most of the work is done in the summer period, which is, you know, obviously opposite from here. So right around late November to early February is when most of the National Science Foundation contingent goes down there. There's probably about 3,000 to 4,000 people down there during that period, and then the winter over there's just a few hundred, and then South Pole Station has maybe a dozen to two dozen.

Luke McCormack:

And I know as a pilot you've got a lot of hours. I'm sure you've flown in some really squirrely environments there and they teach you to when things get bad. To what is it? Aviate, navigate, communicate, right. I think that's the way it goes. Tell us about, you know, the squirreliest environment you got yourself in.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Well, that's happened plenty of times.

Luke McCormack:

What's the top one? We're going to get to top priorities in a minute.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

So the scariest one. We were actually transiting from Mobile, where we were based, to the Icebreaker, which is in Seattle, and we were based to the icebreaker, which is in Seattle, and we were following visual flight rules, which means typically you follow the interstate, and at a low level, and the ceiling kept getting lower and lower and lower. We were in formation, there was two aircraft and it got to a point where the aircraft commander just said I can't see the road anymore. We're only 100 feet above it. I can't see the other aircraft. And so he pulled into a climb with a mountain right off to the side and we had no communications with anybody and I was navigating and I was on a visual flight rules chart and he said the aircraft commander said, Chris, you've got to get us out of here. And so I was what we call asses and elbows, trying to find charts and trying to talk to air traffic control, and it was just.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

It was a really, really scary moment because you know. And then, when we landed, it was a really, really scary moment because you know, and then when we landed, we found out that we really hadn't done anything wrong. It was unforecasted weather. So that was probably about the scariest time I've had, but we've had plenty of missions where a mariner is in trouble. We have to go out there in zero-zero conditions. We have to go out there in zero-zero conditions, sometimes in icing conditions, and basically get on scene and pull people off boats.

Luke McCormack:

Yeah, I mean, you're going out there when everyone's coming home.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Yeah, crash the aircraft and really, truly, that's the excitement that I loved. I probably wouldn't love it now, but back when I was younger definitely craved.

Luke McCormack:

that Takes a special kind of individual. So you're down on an icebreaker. Eventually, you make your way to Washington at some point, right? Maybe there's a gap in there. Tell us how you got into Washington. Eventually, you're driving a desk, as they like to say, right?

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Yeah well, thanks for reminding me. Driving a desk, as they like to say, right? Yeah well, thanks for reminding me. So we did talk a little bit about I went into aviation engineering and so I was in charge of basically production lines putting aircraft on the flight schedule, breaking them down, repairing them, putting them through inspections, managing a pretty sizable staff to be able to do that, and so one of the things that I noticed I got pretty good at that.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

At one time I calculated that I probably had more test flights than at that time, than anybody in the Coast Guard, just because of the you know the places that I probably had more test flights than at that time, than anybody in the Coast Guard, just because of the you know the places that I was at, the roles that I had. But what I, what I began to notice was as I started to kind of enter into the IT field, was that a lot of the things that we did on the production line, on a hangar, was very similar to how you would produce IT, and so I started making those connections and I caught the eye of the CIO at the time, our Admiral Bob Day, and I was actually in the elevator with him at Coast Guard headquarters and he said Chris, I'd really love for you to go out and run our software development center, which is also the data center, the Coast Guard single data center, west Virginia, right.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

West Virginia yep, which is also the data center, the Coast Guard single data center, west Virginia, right, and that was kind of my initiation into transitioning into the IT world. But it all stemmed from kind of what I learned in aviation, learning about lean manufacturing, six Sigma, theory of constraints, and then kind of finding out later that agile development is based on the same foundational principles that Lean, six Sigma and TOC is. So that was really fascinating to me. Granted, I hated being out of the cockpit, but if I couldn't fly, then being able to do that sort of production stuff which I got really good at, really appealed to me.

Luke McCormack:

I know we started a little bit late. How much time do we have? I'm just trying to make sure I'm budging in the right amount of time there in the back. How many About 15. Perfect, okay, so you come out of West Virginia. Eventually you make your way into the CISO role and then the CIO role. So tell us about that, and then we want to get you over at headquarters here in Commander's Intent and North Store.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Yeah, sure, and North Star and all that Sure. So caught the my work at Martinsburg kind of caught the eye of senior leadership and so they brought me up into the executive assistant role for the deputy commandant for mission support. And so that meant I sat with senior leadership the commandant, the vice commandant, the restart admirals pretty much every day, multiple times a day, and kind of really learning what it takes to manage an organization like the Coast Guard with 11 statutory missions and doing not just search and rescue but port security and environmental protection and law enforcement, et cetera. And so that's where, all of a sudden, now I'm in this world of senior leadership and kind of learning how to do that.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Once my tour done was there, I called the CIO and said do you have any space for me? And he said I'd love for you to be the CISO. And then, right as I started the CISO role, I got a call from Admiral Carl Schultz, who was the Commandant at the time. I was on vacation, my family was all around me and he said Chris, we'd really love you to be a flag officer. And so after I picked the phone off the floor and put my job back in place, I was really honored to do that. And then Admiral Charlie Ray what year was that to do that? And then Admiral.

Luke McCormack:

Charlie Ray. What year was that that?

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

was 2019.

Luke McCormack:

Okay all right.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

And then Admiral Charlie Ray said Chris, we know you think you're a pilot, we think you're an IT specialist, and so we'd love for you to go to US Cyber Command and be the director of training and exercises there. And then so all of a sudden, I think of myself as a pilot. I love doing Coast Guard operations, but that view is not necessarily shared by Coast Guard leadership, and so they's a skill set that we don't necessarily develop in the Coast Guard. We're doing much better now, but, as I was going through, an operator turned into IT specialist was a fairly rare occurrence.

Luke McCormack:

Well, an operator, a leader. Now you've gotten some stripes in the IT software development, ciso, cybercom, so it's not just a pilot who sort of fell into the CIO job Right.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Definitely found my own path.

Luke McCormack:

Yeah, so now you're over at headquarters. You got a tap from Eric and crew. You find yourself over there. Let's talk a bit about Commander's Intent. North Star what were the priorities that Eric gave you and then we'll talk about. I'll say your own priorities, but everyone, there's always two sets of priorities, right?

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Right, right. Well, Eric's working on trying to finish out his four-year stint as a CIO, you know, before the administration changes and getting priorities across the line which are.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

I would say the number one priority is implementing artificial intelligence into the department. Becoming a government leader one of the government leaders in implementing AI, I would say that's probably his number one priority and, you know, for me it's definitely to support that, and I think in the next panel we'll talk a little bit about that as well but it's also, you know, to make sure that there's a good transition between administrations, that we not only keep going in the right direction for AI, but some of our other initiatives, like building a modernized software, building the IT workforce throughout DHS, expanding customer experience within the department. So those are the areas that he definitely wants me to kind of take through to the next administration and then see where we go from there as far as what priorities go. And then you know, of course, cybersecurity is foundational to everything that we do, and so that's another big priority that we're really trying to focus on.

Luke McCormack:

So you get on board, like I said, you find the bathroom, so to speak. You've got some, some serious horsepower up there at headquarters, strong leadership and the directors, solid set of deputies. What are you thinking, as far as? Obviously you have the priorities outlined by Eric and the secretary. Get those over the fence. But I'm sure you're making some of your own observations as well about hey, these are some things that I wanna double down on and make sure that we start to build out X, y and Z. Any thoughts on that? Yeah, so.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

I couldn't agree more with Eric's priority on AI. I think that's going to be a fundamental game changer throughout I was going to say the Coast Guard, because definitely the Coast Guard, but throughout the department. When I think back to my time as a pilot doing search and rescue and flying for hours and hours looking for people in really bad weather conditions, and I think about if you had an unmanned vehicle doing that, with powerful sensors and AI to be able to do maritime object detection, that could be a fundamental game changer and really kind of not only enhance the safety of our crews in the air but also to become more efficient in how we do things. So where maybe an unmanned vehicle does the search and the manned vehicle does the rescue. So that's just one of the applications that I could think of.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

You know, watching productivity with just generative AI and large language models. You know, within Coast Guard headquarters I know that's not necessarily the sexiest place to look, but just to see how more productive our workforces are within the Beltway with the use of large language models. And I mean, frankly, I have learned a lot about DHS just by sitting down at night, because the mission space in the Coast Guard doesn't necessarily overlap entirely with some of the other components. So learning about the migration process and the handoff between Border Patrol to ICE, to USCIS to DOJ, and how that works. I've used AI a lot to try to figure out that process because I don't think there's a migration manual out there that I've found Sure, sure, no question.

Luke McCormack:

That's always a bit of a dynamic Meanwhile, sort of bringing it back down to earth. While you're sort of pushing some of those higher priorities, you've got a financial system that's got to get modernized. You know people just want their WebTA on their phone. How are you finding yourself sort of balancing all these other you know sort of almost daily priorities, if you will, and how's that working for you? What's your observation as you come in and start working with your team?

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Yeah, well, I'm super impressed with my staff and I'm super impressed with the component CIOs and their staffs. Just the degree, the level of competency, the level of expertise, the motivation right and the passion that they exhibit is just really for me. Because, you know, the Coast Guard typically has a very small staff. We operate very lean and to see kind of more robust staffs within the components and at headquarters has just been great. So how do I manage? I rely an awful lot on the immediate staff, the executive directors, the SESs within the IT community to kind of keep me straight on hey, what should I be focusing on? What should my priorities be? So there are a lot of stray rounds, as you mentioned, lou, and so kind of fending some of those off and saying, hey, hemant Bedouin, can you handle this one? And then report back to me. You know, dave Larimore, here's an AI thing that you need to school me on.

Luke McCormack:

How about just straight up your management style? Are you more of a? You know General Powell or General Mattis, or you know what's your style?

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

So my style is to Maybe I should ask the staff. You know it's a standard military style. You know set priorities, hold your subordinates accountable and ask a lot of questions. I don't like to tell people how to do things, but if they're not doing things, that I think if they're not heading in the right direction, then I'll just keep asking questions until you figure it out.

Luke McCormack:

So your commander intent is we've got five minutes, but give us sort of that. What's that North Star direction? That's your not only give me to your staff, but these folks out here that are helping your staff execute that direction.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

So in one word, I would say collaboration, and I think a close second would be prioritization. So we need to know where we're heading. So what are the priorities, not just of the current administration, what do we think the next administration priorities are going to be? What are our priorities for headquarters, what are our component priorities? And then let's collaborate on those. You know, too many times I've seen folks try to go it alone, and that's always been either less successful or not successful, and so what I am encouraging my staff is to collaborate with their peers within the components and follow the priorities that are set by the CIO, by me, by the administration.

Luke McCormack:

And with these, you know, all these industry partners out here that want to help execute that awesome mission. For sure, in regards to any final thoughts, any other parting thoughts you'd like to give us before we get into the rest of the I heard something second hand about the IT workforce in the government.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

So in DHS we only have about 10,000 IT employees across the department about 255,000 people total and we're outnumbered across the department about 255,000 people total and we're outnumbered by the PRC. We're probably outnumbered by the Russians as far as the cyber threat goes, but that's only if you consider the government. Industry is our biggest force multiplier, and so we need to work as a team. We need to be collaborative in how we're going to deter our adversaries, and we all know who those are. I mentioned two, and that to me is the most important. We are a team here. It's not just government leading the way and industry supporting. It's mutually beneficial.

Luke McCormack:

Appreciate that and one of the things that we talked about in regards to collaboration. You heard Megan say it. By design, these panels are set up where we're budgeting a considerable amount of time for questions and we want you all to fire away. Let's have a conversation back and forth, not a bunch of talking heads up here and it's all in receive mode. Let's have a good dialogue. We are going to talk about industry collaboration. That's part of some of the panel discussion that we're going to have. I think well, actually on at least two of them. So, by all means, I know you all aren't dying, don't make me call on you, but we definitely want to make sure that we have some interacting, engagement and conversation.

Rear Admiral Christopher Bartz:

Admiral final thoughts. I just really appreciate Luke this time and I have a big part in this afternoon and so I appreciate that and kind of allowing me to, you know, tell my priorities, get to meet my staff and I think we're going to have some close out and some social event afterwards. So thank you for that. It's an honor to be here on the stage with you. Thank you, I appreciate it, thank you.