MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) \u2014 A pair of ornate brass door knobs with an American Eagle etched on each side seemed out of place as they have held a spot of honor on the glass-topped desk in Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast\u2019s office for the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were perhaps two of the smallest mementos Kwast, the commander and president of Air University, had displayed in his office at Maxwell Air Force Base, where gifts from his various duty stations lined the tables, bookshelves and walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon, Kwast may receive yet another gift to add to his collection as he prepares to leave Montgomery and Air University and assume his new position as commander of Air Education and Training Command in San Antonio, Texas, in November. He will be responsible for recruiting, training and educating the entire Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so excited I have to pinch myself that I\u2019ve been lucky enough to get this kind of opportunity,\u201d Kwast said in an interview this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the last three years, he has made the River Region his home. His office reflects the importance he places on friendships he\u2019s made over the years since he was a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1986 and earned his pilot wings in 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He held the pair of door knobs in his hands has he shared their unique story – one that embodies Kwast\u2019s character, love for people and his life-long desire to defend them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile I was stationed in Washington, D.C., I struck up a friendship with a janitor at the White House,\u201d Kwast said. \u201cThe protocol is to replace a door knob when one becomes to worn. They are to be taken off, replaced with new ones and discarded. Before I left for my next assignment, this janitor gave me two old door knobs as a parting gift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A change of command ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 16 in San Antonio, when Kwast will officially leave his current position and assume command of ATEC. A replacement for Kwast at Maxwell has not been announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first words when asked the highlight of his stay here? The people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe venture here has been joyful, because of the people who love this country and who are fighters for a better America, so that\u2019s been fun for me,\u201d Kwast said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of those people who he made a close friendship with is Mayor Todd Strange, who made Kwast, his wife and his children promise to return regularly. He said that should not be a problem since Air University is the \u201ccrown jewel\u201d of AETC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leader in cyber<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since arriving, Kwast along with his team at Air University have not only built long lasting friendships, city relationships and community partnerships, but one of his most major contributions has been to help move the city into the \u201c21st century and the digital age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said it is about defending American values, economy and government and educating airmen \u201cmore deeply\u201d through digital advances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSteve Kwast has really come in here and in a relatively short time made a significant impact,\u201d Strange said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those catalysts for change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strange remembers the first time he heard Kwast speak. It was at an event at Auburn Montgomery in 2015 and Kwast spoke on his passion of cyber security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe challenged us to move beyond where we had been thinking about Gunter and really challenged us to embrace cyber and technology and really helped us on our path to becoming a \u2018smart city, smart base,\u2019\u201d Strange said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Kwast\u2019s first initiatives after coming to Air University was to set up the first Cyber College of the Air Force. It opened in 2015 as a mainly virtual institution using cyber curriculum from Air Force colleges across the country to identify and find solutions to security threats and hacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was also the first major step in moving Montgomery toward becoming the next \u201cGig City.\u201d Since then, the city has unveiled the new Internet Exchange, a digital data hub known as MGMix with a 100GB capacity internet exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Internet service providers, businesses, government entities and others can connect to the hub as a central point for global data transmission. In less than a year MGMix passed similar hubs in Miami, Florida, Nashville, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida, to become the second busiest exchange in the Southeast in terms of data volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of Kwast and the area\u2019s already large military presence in Montgomery, the city offers unique military capabilities when it comes to IT and cyber that acts as a draw for manufactures and companies looking for military contracts. Maxwell\u2019s Gunter annex houses at least five different organizations that deal with information systems and cyber on a daily basis, said Joe Greene, vice president at Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur military capabilities here are really not present anywhere else with the types of capabilities that we have in a number of areas,\u201d Greene said. \u201cWe have big data and mass data storage capabilities and gives us a broad contractor base in all those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKwast has put his shoulder to the wheel and that of the Air Force and Gunter to move us in this direction,\u201d Strange said. \u201cIf it had not been for him and his vision, Montgomery would not be where it is. We wouldn\u2019t have the internet exchange, we wouldn\u2019t have an innovation district and we wouldn\u2019t have open data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe has been relentless and has offered his people to help us strategize and plan all this with the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diversity prompts defense career<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kwast\u2019s love for people and their protection as an F-16 fighter pilot to now a proponent of cyber security, stemmed from a diverse childhood background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The son of two missionaries, his father was a preacher in Cameroon in West Africa, where he grew up alongside a local tribe for the first 10 years of his life. That \u201claid the foundation\u201d for his outlook on life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSeeing things on a global level, not just a local level and moving to Los Angeles gave me an appreciation for the importance of community and defending these values that we have,\u201d Kwast said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt gives me a deep well of motivation and incentive to work hard and be aggressive to make sure America stays safe and we can create the freedom for people to create beauty in their communities. It starts by loving your neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While living in L.A., Kwast witnessed how \u201cbroken neighborhoods\u201d caused those living there to suffer. He also saw at the same time, how unique America was in respecting and valuing everyone no matter their background, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a respect that exists and is embodied in our Constitution that all men are created equal,\u201d Kwast said. \u201cThat\u2019s unique to the history of mankind and I had a passion to defend that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recognized that cyber was one way to do that as the digital age unfolded over the last several decades and issues of privacy and national security arose. That includes Montgomery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you the depth of my admiration and respect for this community and all the friends and friendships that has developed over the last three years,\u201d he said. \u201cMy promise is that those will never go away. I will always be here for this community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of Kwast’s first initiatives after coming to Air University was to set up the first Cyber College of the Air Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":111728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"8":{"categories":[],"primary_category":""}}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1877],"class_list":["post-31105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"A27XJIUXKBHUTEXLYYQTQOSXHI","arc_canonical_url":"\/workforce\/career\/2017\/09\/25\/catalyst-for-change-cyber-leader-leaving-air-university\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n