by Harold Flickinger ’07

Cost of Shippensburg University diploma = $30,000
Cost of Ship bumper sticker from the University Store = $3.50
Networking with a Ship classmate in the land of IUP = Priceless

All great journeys end with home. That was the case for Steve Gironda ’89, who after graduation was back home in Ebensburg—deep in IUP territory. Steve’s dad has been an assistant football coach with IUP for twenty years, and the rivalry with Ship has been alive and well in the Gironda household for a long time. Steve was an All-PSAC linebacker and punter all four years with the Raiders and a member of the PSAC West Championship team that beat IUP in ’88—the last time Ship claimed victory.

But it was on his way to work one day when Steve spotted a parked car with a SU bumper sticker that led to his greatest success. Steve, self-described as “the kind of guy who can strike up a conversation with anyone, at anytime, about anything,” and considering anything “Ship” to be highly out of place, decided to stop and introduce himself to the car’s owner.

As luck would have it, the car belonged to Bob Jamison ’89-’92m. The two had shared criminal justice classes, and as they rekindled their friendship, Bob introduced Steve to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) based in nearby Johnstown. Bob told Steve plainly, “You’ve got to come work for us.”

At the NDIC, Steve works with a collection of intelligence analysts and information technology specialists. Steve explained, “We travel to the field offices of any federal agency conducting a major narcotics investigation.”

As analysts and IT specialists, these men and women collect information about defendants, analyze it, and enter it into the Real-time Analytical Intelligence Database (RAID).

When a drug trafficker’s “little black book,” digital photos, or even computer hard drive is seized, all of the pertinent information is entered into RAID where it can be easily located and used by the prosecution.

Steve started working for the NDIC in the Document Exploitation Unit in 1995 handling hard copy evidence, and was promoted in 2002 to manage the Computer Exploitation Branch.

Steve estimated his branch roughly “sorts through about 40 terabytes of information each year — in about 50 investigations.” The NDIC is constantly upgrading its technology to stay current. “There’s been a steady increase of electronic data storage with hard disk drives, cell phones, jump drives, CDs, floppy disks, etc. The storage devices continue to increase in size, and the criminals feel the need to purchase the newest available technology.”

To get where he is today, Steve cited professors like Roosevelt Shepherd, Daniel Menniti, James Jengeleski, Tom Austin, and Donald Gracey. “They were all instrumental in my success. The real-world experience they brought to their classrooms were very inspiring.”

Steve praised the university for another reason, “If I didn’t go to Ship, I wouldn’t have met my wife. And you know, I kind of like her.” He also said, “She’s been very understanding and really supportive, especially in the early days with all of my traveling.”

Steve and Claudia ’91 have two children, a son Tyler David,12 — named after Ship teammate David Tyler Russell — and a daughter Gabby, 9. “Claudia and I teach them the importance of both class work and athletics.”

Beaming with a mixture of school spirit and fatherly pride, Steve joked he was having his son fill out the paperwork for playing Ship football. In reflection, he said, “Maybe he won’t like it at Ship. Maybe he’ll end up playing for Dad at IUP…but I’ll do what I can to make sure he chooses Ship.”