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Wendell Dale Foster is currently an executive director of Joint Force Headquarters for the Department of Defense information network. Foster won the Pioneer Award at the 2023 BEYA STEM Conference for helping the defense department make tremendous advancements in signal intelligence and offensive and defensive cyberspace operations.
A retired Marine officer, Foster has made multiple combat deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. He also has trailblazing achievements in signal intelligence and cyberspace operations.
Accepting the award presented at the BEYA Gala, Foster honored his father. "He is very sick in the hospital and could not be here," Foster explained, adding that his father and mother have tremendously influenced his life. "See, my father, he was a techie," Foster continued. "And he was adamant about the importance of understanding technology.
"In the eighties, in our house, we had a Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80," he said. "That was followed by the Commodore 64 and almost every generation of computers after that. By the time I was in high school, I knew how to program a basic language because of my dad's influence. However, like my mother, my true passion was the opportunity to pour into people's lives. My ability to understand technical concepts provided opportunities. So I thank God for this recognition, and I thank God for my family and friends."