ITPA Annual Gala: June 2026

ITPA Annual Awards Dinner & Gala: June 2026

Our annual dinner meeting is traditionally held every June at Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Virginia. Our guest speakers from the current and past seasons as well as sponsors are invited to attend. This dinner serves as a celebration of all that the ITPA NCC members and sponsors have achieved during the preceding year and includes the presentation of donations to our supported charitable organizations! Additionally, new board members, including board leadership positions for the upcoming year, are presented.

Our Guest Speaker for this years Annual Awards Dinner & Gala is Joe Wassel, CEO of Zero Nine Thirty-Seven

Joseph (Joe) Wassel is the Founding CEO of Zero Nine Thirty-Seven, LLC, Consulting, specializing in leadership in crisis, strategic leadership in national security communications, and all cyberspace operations. He is retired from Federal Service at the rank of Tier 3, Senior Executive Service, as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the First Responder Network Authority. He was responsible for overall management of all FirstNet Authority operations and the organization’s strategic direction, including its unique public-private partnership with AT&T. He led a 25-year, $40 billion contract to deploy and enhance the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network for the United States, its Territories, and the District of Columbia. FirstNet was the final promise kept to our Nation’s First Responders and closed out the last open recommendation of the 9-11 Commission Report.

Prior to joining the FirstNet Authority, Mr. Wassel served for 35 years within the Department of Defense, succeeding in a myriad of leadership roles and responsibilities. As the Executive for the Cyberspace Operations Directorate within the Defense Information Systems Agency, he led the day-to-day operations of the DOD Network and a global workforce over 2,600 people. He is also the former Director of C4 Resilience & Mission Assurance in the Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Information Officer’s office. He was also the founder and chair of DoD’s Public Safety Communications Working Group, where he led the Services, Joint Staff, National Guard, NORTHCOM, and other DoD partner activities for the Department’s public safety communications efforts, including Next-Generation Public Safety Wireless capabilities, Next-Generation 9-1-1 implementation, and Enterprise Mass Warning and Notification capabilities for DoD. Prior to assuming his former positions, Mr. Wassel served as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Communications, directly reporting to four Secretaries of Defense (Perry, Cohen, Rumsfeld, and Gates) over a 13-year period. Concurrently, he served as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Finally, he is also a retired Air Force Officer with 28 years of active and reserve service. He commanded troops during several tours in the United States and overseas and deployed as a reservist in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as the Chief of Command and Control Operations for the International Security Assistance Force at the Combined Joint Operations Center in Kabul, Afghanistan. Mr. Wassel Joined the Senior Executive Service (SES) Corps in 2019 and rose to the rank of SES Tier 3. His military and civilian decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Secretary of Defense Meritorious and Exceptional Civilian Service Medals.

He was decorated for his actions during the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

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