Army Engineer Completes Nearly Half Century of Service to the Nation

Capability Program Executive - Intelligence & Spectrum Warfare:

"Colleagues bid farewell to Frederick Knudsen on October 29 at a ceremony where he received the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal after nearly 50 years of service to his nation as a Soldier and Army civilian.

Knudsen capped his almost half-century of service as an Information Systems Security Officer with Product Lead Combat Terrain Information Systems (PL CTIS), an office of newly formed Project Manager Aerial-Terrestrial Surveillance and Reconnaissance (PM Atsr).

PL CTIS Product Lead Cory Baron said Knudsen played a critical role in delivering capabilities to the Soldier.

“Fred has been an institution here at CTIS since day one and has shepherded our programs across the acquisition and development process,” said Baron. “To say he will be missed is an absolute understatement and his departure will be felt for years to come.”

Knudsen shares similar sentiments for those he has worked with over the course of his career.

“I will miss all the people, colleagues, and great friends, that have made the Army Geospatial Center such a fantastic place to work,” said Knudsen.“But I will, more than anything, miss the contacts, interactions, and relationships I have maintained for the last 37 years, directly and personally, with the Soldiers across the entire Army Engineer Regiment.”

Knudsen began his career with Army Military Intelligence in 1976 and joined the Army civilian ranks in 1989. His career highlights include helping establish the US Army Europe Tactical Radar Correlator (TRAC), the Digital Topographic Support System (DTSS), as well as the Instrument Set, Reconnaissance and Surveying (ENFIRE) kit of systems, the Automated Integrated Survey Instrument (AISI), and the Global Positioning System-Survey (GPS-S) system.

In addition, his efforts and dedication paved the way for comprehensive reconnaissance modernization across the Army with the Advanced Reconnaissance Kit Family of Systems (ARK FoS) currently in the validation and experimentation phase.

“With so many state-of-the-art systems and capabilities I helped deliver to the Soldier, the constant thread throughout my work was the shepherding of our programs from concept to fielding to transition to modernization across the portfolio, keeping engineer Soldiers armed with the best tools available to excel in performance of their mission,” Knudsen said."