Retirement Announcement for Dr. Jose Nabielsky

After 40 years of extraordinary service with SMS, we announce the retirement of Dr. Jose Nabielsky—affectionately known as “Dr. J”. Jose’s legacy at SMS is both profound and enduring. Since joining the company in 1985, he has been a driving force behind some of our most significant technological and cultural milestones.

As one of the very few TCP/IP experts in the early 1980s, Jose began his SMS career by pioneering Cisco routing implementation for the Defense Department. His vision and expertise made SMS a cornerstone of the National Capital Region’s telecommunications modernization and the Pentagon Renovation projects in the 1990s. While he later developed architectures for the FDA and Department of Transportation, Jose’s contributions to the Pentagon’s architecture remain his most distinguished achievement. Following the 9/11 attacks, he served as lead architect for the Pentagon’s network redesign—the Command Communications Survivability Project (CCSP). This initiative established the standard for secure, resilient government communications infrastructure and continues to influence our work today.

Beyond his technical achievements, Jose has been a magnet for talent, attracting and mentoring outstanding engineers who have helped build a culture of innovation, analytical rigor, and creative problem solving. Jose’s disciplined, methodical, yet artistic approach has left an indelible mark on SMS’ culture and success. We thank Dr. J for his decades of leadership, mentorship, and vision, and wish him every happiness in his well-earned retirement.

“Jose had a unique ability to organize and present complex technologies in a way that was clear, educational, and approachable.  He took the time to explain the technical details, but also to frame and structure the arguments for those technologies effectively. I listened and learned, and as many others around us questioned why we were using certain technologies, vendors and designs, Jose provided the right answers for the program and supported me as I worked through the processes with my Government peers and leadership. I admired that Jose did the right things for us, the customer, and for the end users, while in the same context, he would be pushing the vendors to develop better products to meet our needs.”

-John Ladd, SMS’ Chief Operating Officer, referring to his time working with Jose while John was SMS’ Government customer at PENREN.

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