Geointeresting

Part 2 of 2 After escaping Vietnam, and surviving six days and six nights on a tiny boat, Christine Staley and her family arrive in the Philippines. Her five siblings and mother were placed in a refugee camp where they lived, worked and waited ... waited for the day they'd hear their names called over the loud speaker. On that day, whenever it would come, the family would walk to the refugee camp office and receive their airline tickets to America. It was the last step to confirm an official start to a new life as an American immigrant. Hear the conclusion of Christine Staley's journey from Vietnam to America.

Christine Staley, an assistant inspector general for audit at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, describes her experience as one of the estimated 700,000 'boat people' who escaped Vietnam in the 1970s. ... North Vietnamese forces captured South Vietnam's capital city April 30, 1975, and the U.S. formally evacuated all American civilian and military personnel. This is known as The Fall of Saigon. Five years later, Christine Staley fled Vietnam with her mother and five siblings, risking everything to escape the country they no longer knew, to start a journey toward the unknown. This is part one of Staley's personal story.

Recently, author and journalist Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, visited NGA's Springfield, Virginia, campus and told the story of Brian Regan, a former signals intelligence officer who stole over 20,000 pieces of classified information. Regan's story is anything but typical. He was able to elude and stump and authorities long after he was caught due to nearly unbreakable cryptological code he developed. This is not just a story of code breaking and espionage, but also the human side of Regan.

Paul Morin, director of the Polar Geospatial Center at University of Minnesota, talked with Geointeresting about the advances in mapping the Arctic and Alaska through the creation of digital elevation models, and with the help of NGA and the National Science Foundation. Upon completion, this collaborative mapping effort, established following President Obama's Jan. 2015 Executive Order, "Enhancing Coordination of National Efforts in the Arctic," will encompass all land area north of 60 degrees north latitude.

This episode of Geointeresting celebrates the work done by the Defense Mapping Agency, an NGA legacy organization, during the Dayton Peace Accords. On Nov. 1, 1995, President Bill Clinton invited representatives to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to negotiate an end to the ethnic discord in the former Yugoslav Republic between Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. After 18 weeks of shuttle diplomacy and 21 days of intense negotiations, leaders from the contending parties initialed the Dayton Peace accords agreeing to the end of the war on Nov. 21. The ceremonial signing took place in Paris one month later with Clinton in attendance. A team of 50 DMA technicians brought portable computer systems, digitizing stations and printers to Ohio, allowing them to quickly produce disputed territory maps and to make complex revisions, sometimes within a matter of 30 minutes. Geointeresting talked with the current NGA historian and a former DMA mapmaker about the legacy of the Dayton Peace Accords. For even more information: http://go.usa.gov/x86hR

Alex Kent, Ph.D., professor of cartography and geographic information at Canterbury Christ Church University, and John Davies, a lifelong map lover and collector, recently sat down with NGA’s Geointeresting podcast team to talk about Cold War-era Soviet mapmaking and its impact on modern-day cartography.

In need of a little motivation? The latest Geointeresting podcast features U.S. Air Force Gen. Darren W. McDew, commander, U.S. Transportation Command. McDew participated in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency director's distinguished speaker series Sept. 7. At the event, McDew spoke about leadership and the importance of thanking colleagues for their work.

Former "Navy Times" Managing Editor John Grady visited the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency earlier this year to discuss a 19th-century pioneer in the study of ocean and modern navigational techniques, Matthew Fontaine Maury. In honor of World Maritime Day, Sept. 29, get to know this "pathfinder of the seas."

Geointeresting sits down with two National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency interns from this past summer to discuss their unique experiences as interns in the intelligence community. They are also joined by one of the agency's student programs managers for some helpful tips to becoming an intern at the agency. Interested in learning more about NGA's internship program or applying? Visit: https://www.nga.mil/Careers/StudentOpp

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Sue Gordon and NGA’s Director of Operations, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. “UV” Linda Urrutia-Varhall, sat down with the agency’s Geointeresting podcast to talk about women's equality, leadership and some of their personal experiences.

Geointeresting talks to Terry Ford, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Intelligence Manager - Africa, and Dr. Odean Serrano, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, intelligence community lead for combating wildlife trafficking. Mr. Ford and Dr. Serrano detail the impact of the IC's role in combating wildlife trafficking and poaching, and the importance of the collaborative, information and data-sharing National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency combating wildlife trafficking portal.

Geointeresting talks to former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden. In this podcast, Gen. Hayden discusses innovation, leadership and transparency in the intelligence community.

Geointeresting talks with Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook about his role as the spokesman for the Department of Defense. Cook was previously a correspondent for Bloomberg Television, where he covered Congress, the White House , the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Now for the Department of Defense he conducts daily press conferences and frequently uses information from NGA to keep the public informed.

Geointeresting talks to Jack O'Connor, author of NPIC: Seeing the Secrets and Growing the Leaders. Listen to learn about the National Photographic Interpretation Center culture, the day-to-day lives of imagery analysts, and about the leaders who helped mold the NGA legacy organization and whose leadership values are still followed, today.

Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré was the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina undertaking the Department of Defense response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen was designated principal federal official for the U.S. government’s response and recovery operations. Learn more: https://www.nga.mil/MediaRoom/News/Pages/%E2%80%98Pretty-clear,-pretty-simple%E2%80%99-lessons-in-survivor-centric-customer-service.aspx