Silverback7 ramps up intelligence training programs

A retired Army officer has turned his military intelligence experience into a multi-million dollar company headquartered on Killarney Drive in Woodbridge.
Silverback7 was begun by retired members of the Joint Special Operations Command in order to apply their unique expertise and capabilities to improve national security and prosecute the war on terror, said chief executive officer Steve Lahr.
“I am often asked if the name Silverback7 came from the name of an old military operation. I wish I could tell you that is was something really, really cool like an old radio call sign, but that is just not the case,” said Lahr. “In one of my old units, ‘Silverback’ was a term of amused endearment for those very experienced members of the organization, who had successfully led important missions. Once quick and strong, now slower, smoother and smarter, such ‘Silverbacks’ formed the nucleus of our company. There were seven of us sitting around a cocktail napkin”
Silverback7 today has 25 full-time employees and generates about $5 million annually after getting its start in 2005 with one employee.
“What we talk about is the convergence of intelligence and operations,” he said.
Silverback7 provides information technology, intelligence and training solutions for the U.S. government, primarily for the intelligence community.
“We started off as a training house,” Lahr said.
The company originally specialized in surveillance, surveillance detection and intelligence analysis.
“In the old style, you think of a big military maneuver or exercise,” noted Lahr. “A lot of our clients, because they do things a little bit more quietly on the intel[ligence] side, we’ll help them do an exercise.”
Silverback7 has brought clients who want an exercise in an area that looks like the Afghanistan/Pakistan border to the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, two hours south of Reno, Nevada.
“The terrain is very similar and it looks and feels like the Afghanistan/Pakistan border,” explained Lahr.
The company can also build exercises for clients who want to do training in more urban areas and will provide everything they might need for a successful exercise — storefronts, warehouse space, specialized vehicles, and role players.
Lahr said many of his company’s military and government clients, because they’ve been so busy since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have had to trim down the training side of their operations and no longer have training non-commissioned officer or officers on staff because they have been deployed overseas.
“They stay so busy they don’t have the same human resources they had on the training side of the house,” he said. “We serve as their training NCOs or officers they used to have.”
Lahr noted that the Obama administration has indicated it wants to work with host nations in a variety of locations and pursue targets on a global basis while having a smaller footprint outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“That takes a lot of intelligence and so we want to work with our clients and help them have the best intelligence,” he said.
That led Silverback7 to build a computer forensics division that provides solutions on how to exploit information that comes off digital devices such as laptops, desktops or handheld devices. The company also employs a knowledge management expert.
“There is so much information out there, you do get overloaded,” Lahr said.
Lahr also stressed that the Department of Defense is acquiring new technology more quickly now than it has in the past.
“It’s very difficult for our intelligence agencies and our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who are on the ground to keep up with the latest technology,” he said.
Silverback7 works with technology manufacturers to develop enhanced users manuals on CDs or DVDs that are tailored to its clients needs.
“One of the things that has been learned since 9/11 is how intelligence is in driving operations and how what is learned during operations drives further intelligence,” he added.
For more information on Silverback7, visit silverback7.com.