Biography

William A. Cimino “Bill”

 

Early Academic and Military Career

William A. Cimino “Bill “was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He graduated from St. Anthony’s High School, an all-boys school (at that time) in Smithtown, New York, in 1963, and received a B.S. degree in mathematics from St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York, in 1967.  Immediately after graduation, he married and entered the USAF Officer Training School (OTS) in San Antonio, Texas.  Bill was commissioned as an AF second lieutenant in September 1967.

After non-flying assignments in Colorado and Okinawa, Bill attended and graduated from Undergraduate Navigator Training (UNT) at Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento, California, in January 1972.  Bill was the Class Commander, completed his flying training, and received his navigator wings with the top academic and flying honors in his class.  He continued flight training in the RF-4C tactical reconnaissance aircraft at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.  After training, he served as a combat-ready RF-4C Weapon Systems Operator (WSO) in the 91^st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Bergstrom AFB in Austin, Texas, until August 1974.

He followed that assignment with a remote tour of duty at Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, where he provided reconnaissance combat support during the war in Vietnam, flying in the RF-4C over Cambodia and South Vietnam, as well as during the seizure of the USS Mayaguez. He flew special missions supporting the evacuations of Cambodia and South Vietnam.  During this assignment, Bill was designated as the first WSO to become a flight commander in the 432nd Tactical Fighter Wing (a role generally reserved for pilots only) and was also assigned as an RF-4C Instructor WSO and Standardization/Evaluation Flight Examiner, providing testing and certification to other aircrew members.

After returning to the States, Bill was assigned as an Undergraduate Navigator Instructor and Flight Commander at Mather AFB, California, through July 1978.  He then proceeded to an AF Exchange assignment with the Canadian Forces at their Air Navigation School in the Aerospace Systems Course (ASC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  After completing an intensive one-year academic program, he served as an academic instructor, senior staff officer, and the Canadian Forces ASC’s Curriculum Development Manager.  In August 1981, Bill returned to South Carolina to requalify in the RF-4C aircraft and serve as Operations Officer for the RF-4C academic tactical training squadron, as Wing Standardization/Evaluation Examiner, and later as the Chief, Wing Stan/Eval, and Chief, Wing Training, respectively.

In September 1983, Bill transferred to the Pentagon in Washington, DC, as Space Operations Officer for the USAF Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, where he served until July 1987, developing national satellite imagery support for tactical operations.  In Bill’s final active-duty assignment, he served as DOD Director for the Softcopy Exploitation Systems/Joint Program Office within the CIA’s Office of Development and Engineering (OD&E).  Bill was the Deputy to the Program Chief for the overall acquisition, development, testing, deployment, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Image Data Exploitation II (IDEX II) system for CIA and military sites worldwide, culminating in his retirement from active duty in February 1993 after a nearly twenty-six-year career.  Bill retired as a full Colonel.

Career in Industry

Bill maintained employment within an evolution of organizations from February 1993 to June 2005, beginning with GDE Systems, then through the Carlyle Group acquisition to Tracor, Marconi, and ultimately to BAE Systems – all under the same employer.  As a Program Manager, he exclusively secured study funds that provided BAE Systems with the entrée to qualify for the Imagery Library Program bid.

Bill was a key member of the Proposal Team and one of seven Proposal Oral Presentation Team members who helped win this $202M five-year program for long-term archive and dissemination business, which grew to over $1B.  Bill was selected as the Proposal Program Lead to write the Operations and Maintenance Plan and was subsequently appointed to the key position of Libraries' O&M Program Manager.  He was also chosen as the Program Manager for the legacy IDEX II Program, which the Libraries would replace.

Bill was the deputy director of the IDEX II Program during an earlier assignment while on active duty in the USAF.  During nine years as Program Manager, Bill worked closely with leaders and organizations within the Imagery Intelligence Community and managed several classified programs connected with the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), the Central Imagery Office (CIO), and the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) which evolved to the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and its current nomenclature as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

In September 2002, Bill was assigned as Business Development Director for BAE Systems’ Intelligence Systems Line of Business (LOB), where he developed a framework to implement the Intelligence Business VP's business strategy.  This contributed to two significant opportunities with new customers, which were among the “Top Twelve” BAE Sector priorities.  Bill was selected for BAE Systems North America Performance-Centered Leadership and Individual Leadership Development during this period.

He assisted the President of Integrated Systems in developing a Business Unit Strategy and Roadmap for achieving five-year business growth.  He was also selected to represent all Systems Integration development interests after establishing a key organization segment, National Security Solutions, and the BAE Systems acquisition of AlphaTech and DigitalNet in a significant reorganization in November 2004.

Bill served as the Executive Vice President of National Security and Defense for Criterion Systems, Inc., a start-up information technology company in Vienna, Virginia, and as a member of its Board of Advisors.  Bill helped establish Criterion Systems with its four Founders in 2005 and was responsible for establishing, managing, leading, and growing the Intelligence Business Unit (IBU) profit-and-loss vertical line of business.  Bill participated in the overall corporate growth strategy, oversaw the management of all personnel within the IBU, and oversaw Criterion’s performance across all programs supporting Prime contractors and customers within the Intelligence Community (IC).  He was solely responsible for acquiring several contract vehicles, which laid the foundation for and expanded the Intelligence business.

He was instrumental in the company’s overall four-year growth, which led to a 125-employee workforce and $21M in revenue, and continued to serve as a member of Criterion’s Executive Team.  This included his direct oversight and management of the NetStar employees' acquisition into the IBU in December 2006.  He also created, established, and chaired an Intelligence Governance Panel (IPL) that interfaced specific Criterion’s Intelligence workforce members with Advisory Board members to enhance business opportunities within the IC.  He also established the Intelligence Business Unit Strategic Plan as the foundation for Integrated Intelligence Solutions, incorporating technical skills, enterprise search, cyber-security, and High-Performance Solutions (HPS) capabilities.

In January 2011, Bill and several other managers founded YottaStor, LLC. This company developed and implemented edge-cloud-based solutions for military and commercial organizations that overcome the limitations of centralized computing bandwidth, latency, data privacy, and autonomy.

Bill is married to Francine M. Micucci, formerly of Jamaica, NY.  They have three children and six grandchildren.

Education Summary

B.S., Mathematics, St. John’s University - 1967

USAF Undergraduate Navigator Training -1972

RF-4C Aircrew Training -1972

Squadron Officer School (Professional Military Education – PME) -1975

M.S., Systems Management, University of Southern California -1978

Canadian Forces Aerospace Systems Course -1979

Air Command and Staff College (PME) -1981

Air War College (PME) -1987

 

Military and other Citations

Top Navigator Student – trophies for academics and flying

Legion of Merit

Air Medal

AF Commendation Medal w/2 Oak Leaf Clusters

AF Outstanding Unit Award w/Valor and 3 Oak Leaf Clusters

National Defense Service Medal w/Bronze Star

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal

Meritorious Service Medal w/2 Oak Leaf Clusters

AF Organizational Excellence Award w/1 Oak Leaf Cluster

Combat Readiness Medal

The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/Palm

CIA Exceptional Performance Award

Author

Bill is the sole author of Manifestations of Apprehension, A Memoir, published by Archway Publishing, a component of Simon & Schuster. The book was published in September 2023. The memoir covers thirty years from 1963 to 1993. It includes Bill’s attendance at St. John’s University, his marriage to Fran Micucci immediately after graduation, and their lives together through a nearly twenty-six-year career in the US Air Force. The central theme of the book is triumph over adversity.

 

Bill is the sole author of The Dream, a historical novel, published by The Sager Group LLC in October 2025. The book describes the relationship between two young boys—one White, the other Black—and the influence of Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have A Dream" speech. The central theme of the book is the power of standing together amid a world grappling with society’s divisions and transformation during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

Upcoming Appearances/Events