13 Spring 2025 Proceedings contracts and other methods of approved money/ser- vice exchanges. This facilitates increased collaboration, reduces redundancy, and improves the overall strength and efficiency of the Armed Forces’ S&T and R&D port- folios. The RDC has greatly benefited from this rela- tionship, gaining access to ongoing DoD experimentation, subject mat- ter experts, databases, and collabora- tion opportunities. For instance, the Coast Guard’s counter-uncrewed aerial system (c-UAS) was developed through cooperation with DoD Lab Sync members. While MOUs like the DoD Lab Sync are basically pieces of paper that outline a framework for collab- oration, it is the driven individuals involved who have gotten to know and trust each other over the years that make it work. The nonstop engagement of each agency’s lab leadership makes DoD Lab Sync the single best example of collaboration. Apart from the DoD Lab Sync, the RDC has 17 active MOUs, highlighting the importance of these partnerships in driving research innovation. One of the most significant partnerships is with the Connecticut National Guard, signed by state Adjutant General Francis Evon. This relationship has provided mutual benefits, with National Guard members invited to participate in Coast Guard Strategic Evergreen events. Additionally, the Coast Guard has used National Guard facilities for kinetic c-UAS testing and housing for RDC summer interns, as well as collaborating on community science, technology, engineering, and mathematics events. The value of this partnership with the Coast Guard resulted in Evon assigning a major as a liaison to the RDC. The RDC has since been invited to the National Guard’s regional cyber war- fare event, Cyber Yankee. This is a regional New England cybersecurity exercise in which National Guard and industry representatives work against a simulated red team. The benefit to the RDC is exposure to some of the region’s finest cyber experts and the latest thinking on cyber issues and research. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) MOU, signed by NPS President and retired Navy Vice Adm. Anne Rondeau, provides another pathway for collaborative Shalane Regan, the Coast Guard Research and Development Center’s (RDC) lead polar scientist, operates the Strategic Quad for Reconnaissance & Logistics, or SQRL, uncrewed ground vehicle at the Army Research Laboratory’s Robotics Research Collaboration Campus (R2C2) in Middle River, Maryland, on June 2, 2024. RDC members, along with members of R2C2, collaborated on how to operate and maintain the SQRL vehicle while also brainstorming what polar excursions could look like in the future. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Carmen Caver In a cyberattack exercise, red teams take on the role of an attacker.
