Solutions Engineer

Ron McNeely

// USAF Veteran | Department of War | Systems Architect

Architecting the future of Multi-Domain Command and Control (MDC2). Specializing in the development of real-time, AI-driven analytics platforms purpose-built for DDIL (Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, Limited) environments — where connectivity is never guaranteed and every byte counts.

Apache Kafka and Apache Flink form the backbone of modern military streaming architectures — enabling edge-deployed clusters to stay synchronized with theater and enterprise nodes so that streaming data and AI models can react in real time, even when satellite links drop, bandwidth degrades, or adversaries contest the network. Combined with Cluster Linking, sensor-to-decision pipelines survive the chaos of the tactical battlespace. Without it, edge data dies at the edge.

Confluent makes Kafka and Flink enterprise-grade — hardened for production with security, governance, and the operational tooling required to run mission-critical streaming at scale across classification boundaries and DDIL environments.

Through the strategic application of event streaming, real-time compute, and Post-Quantum Cryptography, these systems ensure mission-critical data remains secure and deliverable across every echelon — from the tactical edge to the Pentagon. Driven by the advancement of Autonomous Technology and Edge AI, the objective is simple: Connect. Enable. Decide. — Closing the OODA loop at the speed of relevance.

SCROLL
01 — Global COP CENTCOM AOR / EW Monitoring
UNCLASSIFIED // DEMO

JADC2 Common Operating Picture — EW / SIGINT

KafkaMongoDBksqlDBFlink--:--:-- UTC
Layer Control
EW Spectrum Activity
1 GHz5 GHz10 GHz18 GHz
Air Tracks
Naval Tracks
Force Summary
🇺🇸 US14
🇷🇺 RU9
🇨🇳 CN4
🇮🇷 IR6
⚠ S-400 acquisition radar active Latakia — Su-35S within 18nm Incirlik — GPS jamming Aleppo corridor
EW / SIGINT Intercepts
Cyber Threats
Operational Alerts
Streaming Metrics
Kafka Topics18
Events/sec3,241
Connectors27/27
ksqlDB Queries12 running
Flink Jobs4 active
Latency p9914ms
Atlas Docs1.2M
Brokers: 3/3Connectors: 27/27ksqlDB: 12 queriesAtlas: Healthy
Confluent → ksqlDB → Flink → MongoDB Atlas
02 — Expertise8 Domains
01

Real-Time Data Streaming

Kafka, Flink, ksqlDB pipelines. Sub-second latency across multi-system connector architectures.

02

Military C2 Systems

Common Operating Picture dashboards integrating multi-domain intelligence — aircraft, naval, cyber, SIGINT, spectrum.

03

Digital Twin / Smart Base

Satellite mapping, building sensor monitoring, comprehensive facility awareness. VTIME Smart Base demonstrations.

04

Cyber-Physical Security

Zero trust, EW convergence, spectrum management, NAVWAR/PNT threat detection in DDIL environments.

05

IoT & Edge AI

MQTT sensor networks, ONNX Runtime inference, autonomous drone integration, edge-to-cloud data pipelines.

06

Enterprise Architecture

Docker-orchestrated microservices with dozens of Kafka connectors across DIA, CENTCOM, NGA, coalition systems.

07

Vector Search & RAG

Semantic retrieval with sentence-transformers, vector embeddings, AI-ready persistence in MongoDB Atlas.

08

RF & Spectrum Operations

I/Q sample analysis, signal classification, electromagnetic spectrum operations, SIGINT data processing.

03 — StackTechnical Profile
CategoryPrimarySecondaryContext
StreamingConfluent PlatformApache Kafka, ksqlDBMulti-connector architectures
Enterprise-grade Apache Kafka with built-in schema registry, RBAC, audit logging, and 200+ pre-built connectors. ksqlDB enables real-time stream processing with SQL syntax — turning raw sensor data into actionable intelligence without writing Java. Cluster Linking is the critical enabler for DDIL: it mirrors Kafka topics between edge, theater, and enterprise clusters so data survives even when satellite links drop. This is how sensor-to-decision pipelines stay alive across classification boundaries.
ComputeApache FlinkksqlDB streamsReal-time event processing
Distributed stream processing handling complex event processing, windowed aggregations, and pattern detection across millions of events/sec. In military C2, Flink powers real-time threat correlation — joining SIGINT intercepts with aircraft tracks and EW emissions to produce fused intelligence. Exactly-once processing guarantees ensure no intelligence data is lost or duplicated, even during node failures or network partitions at the tactical edge.
PersistenceMongoDB AtlasVector search, triggersAI-ready data store
Document database purpose-built for operational intelligence. Atlas provides the persistence layer where processed streaming data lands for query, analysis, and AI/ML consumption. Native vector search enables semantic retrieval over historical signal data — an analyst can search "emissions similar to SA-21 acquisition radar" and get ranked results from millions of SIGINT records. Atlas triggers fire downstream workflows automatically when new threat data arrives.
LanguagesPythonJava, SQLPipeline & integration
Python drives data pipeline development, simulation systems, and AI/ML model integration — from Kafka producers generating synthetic military data to ONNX Runtime inference at the edge. Java powers production Kafka Streams applications and custom connectors. SQL through ksqlDB and Flink SQL enables rapid prototyping of stream processing logic that non-developers can understand and validate.
InfrastructureDockerDocker ComposeMulti-service orchestration
Docker Compose orchestrates complete C2 demonstration environments with 30+ interconnected services — Kafka brokers, ksqlDB servers, Flink job managers, MongoDB instances, data generators, dashboards — all from a single command. This containerized approach mirrors real edge deployments: portable, reproducible, and deployable on disconnected hardware at FOBs, TOCs, or aboard ships. Every demo is a working proof of concept.
IoTMQTTONNX Runtime, sensorsEdge sensor ingestion
MQTT handles lightweight sensor telemetry from IoT devices — environmental monitors, perimeter sensors, HVAC systems, autonomous platforms — bridged into Kafka via source connectors for unified streaming. ONNX Runtime enables AI model inference directly at the edge without cloud connectivity: signal classification, anomaly detection, and threat identification running on tactical hardware. This is how AI works in DDIL — the model deploys forward with the data.
AI/MLSentence-TransformersONNX, embeddingsSemantic search & RAG
Sentence-transformer models convert unstructured intelligence reports, SIGINT transcripts, and threat assessments into dense vector embeddings stored in MongoDB Atlas. This enables Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) — analysts ask natural language questions and get answers grounded in actual collected intelligence, not hallucinations. Combined with Flink-powered enrichment, new intelligence is embedded and indexed within seconds of collection.
DomainsJADC2 / Military C2EW, SIGINT, SpectrumDefense & Intelligence
Joint All-Domain Command and Control — connecting every sensor and shooter across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. This stack implements that vision: aircraft tracks, naval positions, EW emitter detections, SIGINT intercepts, cyber threat indicators, and spectrum monitoring — all flowing through Kafka, processed by Flink, persisted in Atlas, and displayed on Common Operating Picture dashboards. Decisions at the speed of relevance, not hours-old PowerPoint slides.
04 — ContactSecure Channel

Establish connection

Interested in real-time streaming architectures, military simulation systems, mission-critical data platforms, or JADC2 demonstrations — reach out or connect on LinkedIn.

linkedin.com/in/ronmcneely →
// New Message
05 — Resume
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