April 2026

Our Vision and Mission

Company Updates

Security Updates

HR Updates

Employee Spotlight – Paul Vassallo

Building Our Brand

Garud by the Numbers

***This newsletter is for internal use only. Not for external distribution.***

Message from the President I am pleased to announce Garud Technology Services’ first quarterly newsletter of 2026. This newsletter is an important part of how we will stay connected as we grow by sharing corporate updates, celebrating the impactful work of our employees, and highlighting the milestones that move us forward together. The past year brought significant challenges and changes, demanding resilience, adaptability, and unwavering commitment.

I am deeply grateful to the team members who navigated that period with strength and professionalism, as well as to those who have joined us more recently as Garud enters an exciting phase of growth.

As we look ahead, we are focused on three clear and ambitious goals: building and scaling our operations to increase revenue and create meaningful jobs; driving costs down while developing new and sustainable revenue streams; and deliberately building the Garud brand to be recognized as one of the premier IT government contracting firms.

My leadership philosophy is rooted in investing in our people, delivering exceptional quality, and differentiating ourselves as trusted advisors to our partners and clients. Together, we have an opportunity not only to grow, but to shape the future of Garud with intention while creating impact and a legacy we can all be proud of.

We’ve refined our vision and mission statements to better reflect our priorities and how we deliver value to our clients.

GSA Polaris Women-Owned Small Business Pool (WSOB)

In February, GSA named Garud and LMI Joint Venture (JV) to its list of vendors for the Polaris WSOB Pool. Polaris is a Multiple Award, Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity government-wide acquisition contract for IT products and services.

New Contract with the Air National Guard Readiness Center

Garud is part of a joint venture (JV) that won a $7 million contract last month from the Air National Guard Readiness Center for acquisition services. The Eagle Government Solutions JV includes Garud, along with Omm IT Solutions, Pretek Corporation, and Technology & Business Management, Inc.

ATARC Member Benefits for All Employees

Garud has joined ATARC, the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center, as a corporate member. ATARC brings together government, industry, and academia to solve challenges in Federal IT. All ATARC working groups and monthly summits are open to Garud employees. Please contact your supervisor for more information on how you can participate.

CMMC Level 2 Certification

Garud has earned its Level 2 Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) from the Department of War. Level 2 certification requires contractors that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) to implement 110 security controls outlined by NIST. Garud obtained a perfect score, meeting all 110 benchmarks.

Thanks to Jamie Ryer and Austin Walker, our partners at Frisco IT Services, for helping to evaluate and strengthen the company’s CUI posture in advance of an independent audit by StrategicIT Solutions, an authorized CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO).

Insights from Applied Security Knowledge

Garud employees have access to a quarterly security newsletter covering topics in federal cybersecurity and threat awareness, compiled by our FSO, Pamela Hamilton of Applied Security Knowledge. The latest edition for Q1 2026 can be found here. An archive of previous editions is here.

Employee Referral Bonus

Garud encourages all employees to support our talent acquisition efforts by referring qualified candidates for open positions. Everyone is eligible to participate in the Employee Referral Program except managers within the direct line of authority and Human Resources personnel. After a referred candidate is hired and successfully completes six months of continuous service, the referring employee becomes eligible for the award if they’re still actively employed with the Company. For regular full-time hires, the referral award is currently a gross payment of $500, subject to applicable taxes and payroll deductions. If you have made a referral in 2026, contact Human Resources for an Employee Referral Form.

Welcome to Our New Hires

• Lenister Brown – Senior Procurement Specialist/Program Manager
• Rachel Bruley – Controller
• Eran Cullinane – Sr. Systems Engineer
• John Di Spaldo – Regional Preparedness Liaison
• Sheri Derco – Test and Evaluation Lead
• Jason Domzal – Sr. Systems Engineer
• Lawrence Farah – Construction Q/A Analyst
• Wais Ghaussi – Sr. Systems Engineer
• Brian Gunning – Director, Human Resources
• Brett Hattaway – Construction Q/A Analyst
• Vinay Singh – Sr. Systems Engineer
• Marc Valente – Program Manager
• Luis Vasquez – Civil Engineer
• Mark Wishert – Construction Q/A Analyst
• Charles Witas – Senior Procurement Analyst

Q1 Milestone Anniversaries

• Abdul Khan, 5 years
• Wasim Khan, 5 years

Employee Spotlight Advancing Counter-Drone Efforts at the Border: Meet Paul Vassallo Traffickers and smugglers are increasingly using drones for surveillance along U.S. borders, scouting routes, monitoring law enforcement, even transporting contraband. To counter the threat, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is deploying high-tech systems to detect and neutralize these unauthorized flights—estimated at more than 1,000 incursions per month.

Garud’s Paul Vassallo is supporting the agency’s mission by helping to acquire hardware for its counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) program.

“We do everything from market research, to contracting and testing, to delivering the tracking systems that are actually sitting on the ground,” he said.

Vassallo serves as a lead program engineer in CBP’s program management office. He joined Garud in 2023 after retiring from a distinguished career in government, mostly in defense and intelligence roles. He served in 17 different agencies over 25+ years, with multiple deployments across the globe.

The self-described techno geek holds master’s degrees in both electrical engineering and physics and is also a certified project manager.

“My specialties are communications and microelectronics,” he said. “I’ve worked on everything from power generators to lasers to buying radios, and now C-UAS.”

Impressive credentials—but Vassallo is also widely respected among colleagues as a mentor and collaborator.

“Paul demonstrates what true collaboration looks like in practice,” said Garud program manager Dee Smith, his supervisor. “Rather than hoarding knowledge or working in isolation, Paul actively shares his expertise with co-workers. He has the ability to explain complicated and difficult technical concepts to non-engineers, and he’s consistently willing to step in to help move projects across the finish line.”

Vassallo lives in Maryland, working remotely with occasional trips into the office. After a lifetime of travelling for sensitive missions, he prefers to relax and remain close to home these days—hiking at local state parks, painting and sketching, and reading history and science fiction.

Program managers will nominate employees for the quarterly Spotlight feature based on past and ongoing performance. Selected employees will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

As part of our focus on building Garud’s visibility and brand recognition, we’re refreshing our website to better showcase our capabilities and our strengths. We’re also launching a digital strategy to expand our LinkedIn presence, and we’ve kicked off this quarterly newsletter to foster internal communication.

We want to hear from you! Send us news about you and your colleagues—awards, speaking engagements, papers, volunteer work, and other accomplishments—for inclusion in the newsletter or a company LinkedIn post. Email info@garudtechnology.com, with Newsletter Content or LinkedIn Content in the subject line.

The content in this newsletter is for internal use only.

Not for external distribution.