Powering Mission Continuity Through People and Connections

Chris Youngman is the guy the Navy consults to help solve hard defense challenges. He didn’t become that guy overnight. It happened over two decades of military service, diverse intelligence work and supporting some of the nation’s most complex defense missions.

A Navy cryptologist since 2007, Chris spent 13 years on active-duty supporting tactical and strategic intelligence operations around the world before transitioning into the Navy Reserve and continuing his mission through CIS Secure. Today, he supports counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) missions, helping defense organizations identify threats, connect expertise across organizations and deliver timely intelligence that protects U.S. service members.

Over the years Chris has amassed experience ranging from Navy signals intelligence (SIGINT) analysis to watch leadership. His education includes a BS in Homeland Security and an MBA, as well as numerous business, computer, intelligence and project management certifications. Altogether, Chris is skilled at connecting the technical, business and C-UAS aspects of the missions he serves. But what sets Chris apart isn’t just the knowledge and resourcefulness he possesses. It’s the continuity his team provides.

Keeping Institutional Knowledge In-House for National Defense

One of the biggest challenges Chris comes across in military organizations is that teams are constantly changing as personnel transfer, retire or deploy. And when these organizations try to solve problems internally, their institutional knowledge can disappear overnight.

“The mission doesn’t stop just because people rotate,” Chris observes.

He has spent years building relationships across the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC), becoming someone who not only understands the mission, but often knows exactly who can help solve the next challenge.

“I might not be the guy with the answer,” he says, “but I know the guy.”

Across the defense community, multiple organizations may be tackling nearly identical challenges from different perspectives. Without established relationships, teams can unknowingly duplicate effort while valuable expertise remains just out of reach.

Chris believes building those connections before they’re needed dramatically improves operational readiness. Leveraging expertise across services and agencies helps ensure the Navy’s teams aren’t faced with solving problems they’ve never been exposed to all by themselves. Those resources become especially valuable when urgent operational requirements leave little room for trial and error.

“People don’t know what they don’t know,” he explains. “Too many organizations try to solve problems in isolation simply because they don’t know who else is working on similar issues.”

Having the support of Chris’ team and resources provides greater mission continuity, helps teams avoid duplicated efforts and lets them see challenges from a wider perspective. For defense departments constantly being challenged to do more with less, this type of efficiency and resourcefulness is key.

Saving Lives is the Ultimate Payoff

One of the most rewarding moments of Chris’ career came after years of collaborative work developing standardized processes for counter-UAS operations. Those efforts ultimately provided critical indications and warning of multiple threats directed toward deployed U.S. personnel, allowing operational teams to respond before the threats could be realized.

“Knowing that our work directly helped protect service members…that’s why we do what we do,” Chris says. His biggest motivation is ensuring the people downrange have the highest quality support. He’s been the end user before and relied on people with more insight than he had. So, he wants to be that touch point for others now that he has amassed a wide range of knowledge. For Chris, gratifying moments like that reinforce why preparation, collaboration and continuity matter. It’s about being mission-ready long before a crisis occurs.

“Mission-ready is about staying ahead of current trends and collaborating with other teams,” Chris explains. “It means understanding emerging threats, maintaining awareness of evolving technologies and constantly collaborating with trusted partners before urgent situations arise.”

 

“Deadlines tend to shift and shrink when urgency goes up” he continues. “Being there and being ready with information means you’re not caught off guard. It means you’re prepared for the eventualities of conflict.”

Seeing CIS Secure Implemented in the Wild

Chris is so embroiled in CIS Secure’s C-UAS services that he only recently became personally exposed to the secure communications equipment the company makes.

“For my reserve assignment, I was recently at the Office of Naval Intelligence,” Chris said. “I looked at the TSG phones they had and it said CIS Secure on them. It was the first time I had seen our equipment in the wild. It was very cool.”

Seeing that cutting-edge technology implemented by Naval Intelligence was a reminder for Chris that organizations often underestimate the risk of outdated technologies. “They get complacent,” he says. “You want to make sure your technology is in place for when circumstances change rapidly. Without communications, you’re not going to be effective.”

Skating Through Challenges at Home and in the Field

Away from work, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, who keep him busy with an endless rotation of practices, activities and family life. When he finds time for himself, you’ll likely find him on a golf course. Or on a skateboard. A lifelong enthusiast, Chris has been riding since high school and is now introducing the hobby to his teenage son. While the big ramps may be behind him, he still enjoys the challenge that first drew him to the sport decades ago. That same mindset—embracing difficult challenges, continually improving and helping others succeed—define both Chris Youngman’s career and the way he approaches life.