GPO News:

Change At The Helm Of GPO's Security & Intelligent Documents Unit Leblanc Chosen To Lead Business Unit 

WASHINGTON-Ben Brink, Assistant Public Printer for Security &
Intelligent Documents, will be on military leave from the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO) to serve his country in Afghanistan for
the next year.  Brink is a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, where he
has commanded several intelligence reserve units.  He has more than 30
years of military experience.  Brink's mission at GPO was to lead the
agency's businesses for e-Passports; smartcard e-IDs; Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI) electronic certificates for credentialing; document
transfer and authentication; as well as numerous programs producing both
traditional security documents and those containing embedded
electronics. 

GPO's Production Manager Steve LeBlanc, has been named the new Managing
Director of the Security & Intelligent Documents business unit by Public
Printer Robert C. Tapella.  LeBlanc currently oversees all of GPO's
three shifts in the production of the Official Journals of Government
and Security and Intelligent Documents.  He is responsible for
production plans, equipment, budgets, schedules and deadlines.  Before
his current assignment, LeBlanc served as GPO's Program Manager for the
e-Passport Program when he joined the agency in 2005.  He led a team
that brought the e-Passport from its concept phase to the current
production levels of more than two million passports a month.  His
hands-on experience with production personnel and valued relationships
he has established as Production Manager will make his transition to his
new position seamless.

Prior to joining the GPO, LeBlanc worked at The Washington Post as the
Manager of Packaging and Distribution.  He served for 23 years in the
U.S. Marine Corps as an Officer, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel.  As a helicopter pilot, he saw combat operations during
Operation DESERT SHIELD/STORM  and during Operation RESTORE HOPE in
Somalia.  LeBlanc also commanded a 145 person helicopter squadron that
trained hundreds of pilots in the operation of the CH-53D helicopter.
LeBlanc holds Masters Degrees from the U.S. Army War College and the
University of Rochester.  He also has a Bachelors of Science from
Villanova University.

 "GPO is proud of Ben for all he accomplished in the Security and
Intelligent Documents unit.  He will also make us proud for serving our
country when being called upon," said Public Printer Robert C. Tapella.
"GPO is fortunate to have extraordinarily talented people like Steve in
our management to step up and assume responsibility for an important
business unit that produces many of our country's most sensitive
documents.  Steve was a key asset in making the e-Passport program a
success and we look forward to his continued leadership in growing the
Security and Intelligent Documents unit."

 "I've had the privilege and opportunity to work closely with the
managers, supervisors and skilled employees throughout Plant Operations
who regularly accomplish their daily production miracles. As the GPO
moves forward and grows the Security and Intelligent Documents business
unit, it is these men and women who'll be the foundation for our
successes," said Managing Director for Security and Intelligent
Documents Steve LeBlanc. 

The U.S. Government Printing Office is the Federal Government's primary
centralized resource for gathering, cataloging, producing, providing,
authenticating, and preserving published U.S. Government information in
all its forms. GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of
information products and services for all three Branches of the Federal
Government. In addition to publication sales, GPO makes Government
information available at no cost to the public through GPO Access
(www.gpoaccess.gov), and through partnerships with more than 1,250
libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library
Program. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov
<http://www.gpo.gov/> .