Russell Cihal has a long and varied work experience. Russell began their career in 2002 as a Wideband Technician with the United States Air Force. From there, they moved on to become a Satellite Communications Technician, NCOIC of the ACCC, Project Manager, Flight Chief and Program Manager of Force Protection, NCOIC of Exercise C4ISR, Section Chief, and sUAS Program Manager with the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa from 2020 to 2022. Currently, they are the Defense Operations Lead at SkySafe. Throughout their career, they have been responsible for addressing and resolving strategic, operational, and tactical problems, spearheading technical reviews, leading programs, building cohesive and value-aligned team dynamics, developing on-the-spot high-performance teams, providing solutions to leaders and capabilities to end users, liaising with agencies and squadrons, modernizing equipment requirements, and providing radio frequency and C4I insight.
Russell Cihal obtained an Associate of Science (A.S.) in Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician from the Community College of the Air Force between 2002 and 2017. In 2015, they obtained the Security+ certification from CompTIA. Russell also has a CompTIA Network+ certification from New Horizons Computer Learning Centers.
August, 2022 - present