WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 18, 2019)—The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology has announced the 2018 Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence in Contracting, with more than a dozen contracting professionals and organizations selected for their contributions to Army acquisition. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) received four awards, including two Contracting Professional of the Year Awards and the Specialized Services and Construction Contracting Awards for a team and for an individual. Also earning multiple honors was the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC); four of its organizations received a total of five awards.

The Secretary of the Army recognized 14 groups and individuals for their accomplishments in customer satisfaction, productivity, process improvement and quality enhancement in three categories: team awards, special awards and contracting officer awards. Laura J. Eichhorn, part of the South Atlantic Division of the USACE Directorate of Contracting, and LaShonda C. Smith, a member of the USACE Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama, were named Contracting Professionals of the Year.

Sgt. 1st Class Terry Ann J. Lewis, with the 608th Contracting Team, 419th Contracting Support Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, received the Contracting NCO of the Year Award. Megan D. Weidner of ACC – Orlando received the Outstanding Contract Specialist/Procurement Analyst Award.

Winners will be honored at a ceremony hosted by Dr. Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, on April 4 in Arlington, Virginia. The full list of winners follows.

Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence in Contracting

Team Awards

Specialized Services and Construction Contracting Award: Puerto Rico Product Delivery Team, USACE, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Systems, R&D, Logistics Support (Sustainment) Contracting Award: Omnibus/Multiple Award Task Order Contract Team, Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

Installation Level Contracting Office and/or Directorate of Contracting Award: 629th Contracting Team/Regional Contracting Office – Osan, 411th Contracting Support Brigade

Contingency Contracting Award: Contracting Team – Special Operations Command Central, 902nd Contracting Battalion, 418th Contracting Support Brigade, Joint Base Lewis – McChord, Washington

Special Awards

Barbara C. Heald (Deployed Civilian) Award: Kelvin B. Magee, ACC – Afghanistan

Exceptional Support of the AbilityOne Program Award: Angela K. Chaplinski, U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Joint Base Lewis – McChord

Outstanding Contract Specialist/Procurement Analyst Award: Megan D. Weidner, ACC – Orlando

Contracting Professional of the Year Award: Laura J. Eichhorn, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters, Directorate of Contracting; and LaShonda C. Smith, USACE Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Contracting NCO of the Year Award: Sergeant 1st Class Terry Ann J. Lewis, 608th Contracting Team, 419th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Contracting Officer Awards

Installation Level Contracting Office and/or Directorate of Contracting Award: Nancy Johnson, ACC – Aberdeen Proving Ground (Huachuca Division)

Specialized Services and Construction Contracting Award: Joshua Kaufmann, USACE Pittsburgh District

Systems, R&D, Logistics Support (Sustainment) Contracting Award: Emily Harston, ACC – Aberdeen Proving Ground (Huachuca Division)

Contingency Contracting Award: Derek Schnorrenberg, ACC – Rock Island, Illinois

For more information about the Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence in Contracting go to https://asc.army.mil/web/contracting-awards/.

A collaborative approach to systems biology may hold the key to breakthroughs from pain management and treatment of chronic eye injury to precision medicine—and wise use of funding.

by Dr. Valerie T. DiVito and Dr. Jessica M. Calzola

Nearly 100 of the brightest minds from DOD came together at Fort Detrick, Maryland, for the Integrative and Collaborative Biomedical Research for the 21st Century Workshop on Nov. 29-30. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s (USAMRMC) Systems Biology Collaboration Center sponsored the workshop.

The two-day event was a venue for experts across the Army, Air Force and Navy, as well as other DOD and federal organizations, to discuss technological innovations, capabilities and mutual topics of interest, as well as current and future collaborations.

Representatives from all levels of research within DOD, including lab technicians, research scientists, program managers and directors, came together to develop a shared understanding of the newest system and integrative biological analytical capabilities and to identify opportunities to leverage the technologies for near- and far-term practical applications.

The workshop featured presentations by representatives from 12 organizations, including USAMRMC subordinate commands and others within DOD.

Traditional research methods focus on understanding individual components within a system. But systems and integrative biology approaches take a holistic look to understand the system as a whole through analysis of the networks that make up living organisms. This methodology enables researchers to better understand the whole system (e.g., the whole body) and shows promise to aid researchers in tackling the complexity of warfighter health and performance.

Dr. Marti Jett, Army chief scientist for systems biology, presented the keynote address, “Evolution of Systems Biology within USAMRMC.” Jett discussed the importance of systems biology and collaborative science as a research approach and recalled challenges of past projects, including the inability to share up-to-date files. “With systems biology, that is one thing that is terribly important—to give each other the information as it’s happening,” she said. Additionally, Jett noted that collaborative cross-functional research teams have been instrumental to maximizing value from multiple molecular data sets and generating biomarker panels for diagnosing complex diseases such as post-traumatic stress disorder and blood-clotting disorders in combat settings.

Presentations spanned the breadth of complex biomedical issues, from pain management and chronic eye injury to precision medicine and human-agent teaming (i.e., the interaction of the warfighter and intelligence agents). There was an additional focus on how these topics were tackled using integrative and collaborative methodologies. Speakers highlighted projects that use these approaches, as well as core infrastructure and capabilities within their respective organizations and successful principles that have guided collaborations.

For example, Dr. Phil Karl, research dietician with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM), described examples of collaborative research efforts among USARIEM, the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center that used big data and bioinformatics to translate research into novel solutions for the warfighter.

Efforts that analyzed warfighter performance under operational stress (e.g., high altitude, extreme temperature) used integrated data from several genetic disciplines as well as clinical information, such as body temperature and blood pressure, to demonstrate that the microbiome’s metabolic byproducts influence performance. The microbiome comprises the diverse populations of bacteria, viruses and fungi that occupy the human body. Future efforts will focus on assessing dietary supplements, which could help warfighters by improving digestion. That could reduce the occurrence of issues like acute mountain sickness and possibly improve cognition.

Dr. Clifton Dalgard, Core director for the American Genome Center of the Collaborative Health Initiative Research Program, hosted at the Uniformed Services University, highlighted the center’s whole-genome sample processing and computational capabilities, which are unparalleled within DOD. Currently, the center has 18 genetic sequencers that include state-of-the-art technology. With more than 80 ongoing projects across DOD and collaborations at the National Institutes of Health, the center is helping to assess genetic risks for illnesses like cardiovascular disease and cancer to improve diagnosis and treatment.

In a time when doing more with less is the mantra and fiscal responsibility is more important than ever, this inclusive meeting was pivotal for bringing together those with shared interests and, more importantly, shared goals. It also served as a jumping-off point to ensure continued efficiency by identifying gaps and barriers across the myriad integrative biology research efforts.

One outcome of the meeting was to initiate collaborations that will lead to expedited delivery of tools and solutions. Further, it is anticipated that biomedical research study designs will be more comprehensive as a result of the accessibility and knowledge of supporting research and engineering capabilities across DOD.

Workshop attendees were impressed to learn about the breadth of work and technologies throughout the enterprise. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to see how computational analysis is being applied across a wide range of DOD biomedical research. Additionally, they benefited from seeing targeted, multidimensional studies that integrate several approaches focused on medical application.

In fact, in a survey of workshop attendees, 68 percent of respondents indicated they learned about a new technology, data type or methodology during the workshop. From the Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute’s capabilities in the development of machine-learning based algorithms, to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases’ rapid genomic sequencing for disease surveillance, the diversity of possibilities encouraged participants to pursue collaborations.

HANDS-ON TECH

Scientific capabilities developed to promote data collection and collaboration were on display during the working lunch on Nov. 29. Attendees participated in product demonstrations and learned more about how USAMRMC capabilities could improve the efficiency of current and future research efforts. These capability demonstrations included:

• USAMRMC’s SysBioCube, which functions as an integrated biomedical research data access, management and analysis platform for biomedical research of military relevance. It serves as a central portal for data collection, harmonization, mining and file sharing, and is accessible to all members of the DOD research community, including extramural partners.
• 2B-Alert, developed by the Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute. It is a smartphone app that uses sleep-wake and caffeine schedules and measurements of past performance (including results from the psychomotor vigilance test) to predict alertness and cognitive performance. The system allows users to input additional data parameters, and lets users or commanders view predicted cognitive performance levels at desired times.
• PanoramiX, a platform developed by the Integrative Systems Biology Program at the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research that enables researchers to visualize the interconnectedness of tailored genome assays with pathological networks and phenotypes for cells or organisms in a data-agnostic manner. This tool allows researchers to easily explore genomic data sets, which tend to be large and difficult to manage, in order to identify interactive networks.
• Functional Heatmap, made by the same group that developed PanoramiX. It is an automated and interactive tool enabling pattern recognition in time-series data, providing a means for researchers to identify trends driven by functional changes. This tool translates numerical data, generally from data sets that are very large and cumbersome to manually evaluate, into color-defined visualizations, allowing researchers to more easily identify patterns.

DISCUSSING THE WAY FORWARD

The workshop closed with a panel discussion driven by questions that arose during the two-day event. The group discussed the greatest opportunities for integrative biomedical research as well as the potential to develop disruptive medical capabilities that could change the landscape of force readiness by improving warfighter lethality.

Participants also discussed the extensive bureaucratic inhibitors that delay the establishment of collaborations as well as barriers that prevent effective data sharing, such as concerns about intellectual property and data rights. There was unquestionable agreement that collaboration is essential to avoid duplication of efforts. Leadership echoed the need for a team approach in support of the warfighter. “We are all working on the same puzzle,” said Dr. Ben Petro, acting director of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “But you all are working on a puzzle that has millions of pieces. If we are working on the same puzzle, how should we organize ourselves strategically?”

Petro continued, “Reach out to others working on a puzzle and figure out how the piece I’m working on provides [clues] to the larger puzzle. As we find pieces that can help other people, we are sharing. The puzzle is a holistic view of the warfighter across all activities and all health states. The opportunity I see here is convergence.”

Dr. William Mattes, director of the Division of Systems Biology at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s National Center for Toxicological Research, discussed the topic of standardization. “When I think of integrative biomedical research, one of the things that catapulted the genomic field was standardizing the data files,” he said. “We need to force some standardization, and there are so many opportunities there. It makes it more efficient. Then you aren’t duplicating efforts, you are synergizing efforts.”

Efficiency is extremely important, said Maj. Jonathan Stallings, acting director of USAMRMC’s Office of Regulated Activities. “We should talk about standardization up front,” he said. “Collectively, we need to pull minds together and decide what standardization looks like. This would allow us to deliver efficiency in a time when money is precious.”

Working together will allow teams to bring ideas to fruition more quickly, according to Dr. George Ludwig, principal assistant for research and technology at USAMRMC. “What can we produce quickly to bring us up to parity with our potential adversaries?” asked Ludwig. “It is not what we can do as individuals, but what we could do collectively to make that actually happen.”

Ludwig also mentioned that shared data can be beneficial to peers working on seemingly unrelated projects. “This integrative approach to biomedical research provides us an opportunity to get to a level of complexity that we have never been able to get to before,” he said.

CONCLUSION

The two-day workshop demonstrated the current breadth of collaborative and integrative efforts across the enterprise, but also served as a catalyst for future collaborations by bringing researchers together to stimulate discussion and social interaction. Participants surveyed after the workshop indicated in an overwhelming majority—83 percent—that they anticipate starting new collaborations as a result of the networking conducted during the workshop.

“I think it is a fantastic activity, bringing people across departments together to share different approaches to take and different problems to solve,” said Petro. “The mission we have here is critical, and no one else can do it.”

For more information, contact Dr. Valerie T. DiVito at valerie.t.divito.civ@mail.mil.

Dr. Valerie T. DiVito is currently acting director of the USAMRMC Systems Biology Collaboration Center and director of the Environmental Health Program at the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research. She received a doctorate from Georgetown University and a B.S. from Dickinson College, both in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology. She is a member of the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps and holds Level III certification in science and technology management as well as Level I certification in program management. She is also a 2017 graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School Advanced Acquisition Program.

Dr. Jessica M. Calzola is a program analyst with Leidos, providing program management support to the USAMRMC Systems Biology Collaboration Center. She received a doctorate in microbiology and molecular genetics from Rutgers University and a B.S. in biochemistry from Juniata College. She is also a certified Project Management Professional.

Related Links:

USACEHR website

SBCC website

BHSAI website

SysBioCube

2B-Alert

PanoramiX

Functional Heatmap

Jim Nuttle Graphic Recording Artist

This article is published in the April-June 2019 issue of Army AL&T magazine.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Subscribe

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 11, 2019) — The future of cyber training is here, and the Army’s Product Manager for Cyber Resiliency and Training (PdM CRT) is delivering it faster than anyone expected. In mid-February, PdM CRT gathered cyber mission forces from all of the services to operationally use the Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE) prototype version B platform for a concurrent, distributed collective and individual level training exercise from a command post at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) in Laurel, Maryland. Training exercise CYBER ANVIL included elements of the cyber mission forces across the Navy, Air Force, Army and Marines as well as the Air Force National Guard and Air Force Reserves operationally aligned to support several combatant commands.

Personnel from Maryland, two sites in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Hawaii all connected to the PCTE working prototype. Many Navy and Air Force teams trained on-site in Maryland while Army personnel supported distributed execution remotely from Fort Gordon, Georgia. Marine and Coast Guard noncommissioned leaders attended the event at JHU-APL to evaluate the platform for future use of the prototype. In total, CYBER ANVIL encompassed nearly 100 participants across five time zones and seven distributed sites.

Collectively, these users—planners, operators, training managers, etc.—operated the prototype to provide operational feedback on the PCTE platform that enabled them to directly plan, prepare, execute and assess several cyber mission force training events across its lifecycle. Trainees accessed a cyber team hunt scenario and an elastic skills builder (ESB) individual threat hunting tool module, both developed by the Navy organically within the prototype, as well as capture-the-packet (CTP) external individual skills training content for forensics and traffic analysis.

“Show me what is wrong with the solution,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Monaghan, PCTE product manager, to a group of visiting senior leaders from DOD visiting the event. Monaghan is product manager for CRT, which encompasses a portfolio of various products, including PCTE. “We need to go hard and go fast, with the users providing feedback every step of the way,” he said. PdM CRT is applying a developmental operations, or DevOps-based process, which differs from traditional processes that follow a rigid timeline and series of steps to achieve initial and final operating capabilities. Instead, the DevOps process connects developers from several vendors and the government engineering team in a very collaborative way to manage configuration updates and changes, and allows them to rapidly respond to input from the operational community to ensure platform relevancy.

Day One kicked off at JHU-APL with a remarkable buzz within the first hour. In the left corner, the hunt teams laid out the daily schedule to maintain a continuous presence in skill sets throughout the day. The team leader shared his screen while the team worked in pairs and called out notable activities to each other. Behind the scenes, the product manager team initiated monitoring with technical operations to compute, network and store. The hunt was on.

The Navy has been the advocate for these training solutions, and contributed the necessary content in this event for foundational cyber training. In the middle and right cubicle sections at JHU-APL, Navy and Air Force teams trained on the individual ESB and CTP training content. Across most DOD cyber ranges and training environments, quality content remains a challenge. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeff Fisher, from Fleet Cyber Command, the content developed by the Navy was imported into the PCTE working prototype and now is available for reuse by the collective joint cyber mission force.

To keep the PCTE working prototype running for the hunt, ESB and CTP training events, the PCTE engineering team used collaborative chat capabilities to respond to operator questions. This allowed engineers and users to share situational awareness related to the prototypes’ overall performance and the status of issues. All operators accessed the platform through a virtual private network to maximize prototype availability and cyber mission force participation.

As a winter storm approached central Maryland and the forecast changed from rain to snow, Deputy Product Manager Liz Bledsoe let the team know that “there will be no snow days in cyber.” By the end of the business day, most local and federal governments planned to close for the following day. Undeterred, the PdM CRT planned for a contingency CYBER ANVIL operations cell in the nearby hotel used for billeting.

While the National Capital Region was shut down, the Orlando-based PdM CRT team plowed through the snow storm to provide cyber training to remote teams in Hawaii, Texas, Georgia and Florida. Hunt teams in Hawaii picked up where they had stopped the previous day. Starting in the afternoon, PdM CRT stayed online while Hawaii hunt teams went back and forth in pursuing the adversary. Hunt team training occurred without a hitch, and PdM CRT prepared to resume full operations the next day.

The third day resumed where the first day ended. Thanks to the staff at JHU-APL, the hunt, ESB and CTP training went full throttle. The Navy hunt team outlined its processes on the white board: Recon, Weaponize, Exploit, Install, Command and Control, and Action. Navy and Air Force teams continued ESB and CTP training. Air Force Capt. Nick Wolf, part of an Offensive Cyberspace Operations (OCO) team, was very pleased with the event. “The CTP training has value for OCO,” he said. More representatives from the Coast Guard, Army Cyber Command and the Reserve Component observed the training with great interest.

CYBER ANVIL was a healthy initiation for the prototype. The DevOps process is enabling PdM CRT’s utilization and ensuring relevancy of its rapid prototyping initiatives across a multi-faceted cyber mission force user base and mission sets. PdM CRT is expected to pick up the operations tempo of these unit-driven exercises, increasing the scope, size and scale across the services to rapidly battle-harden the platform in advance of its release. Another PCTE prototype event, CYBER VALHALLA, was held in March at JHU-APL, and gave OCO teams the opportunity to again test, harden and iterate the platform. The success of CYBER VALHALLA was another step forward for PdM CRT, which continues to refine the PCTE prototype in preparation for release of version 1.0 in January 2020.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Subscribe

By Susan L. Follett

WASHINGTON (April 25, 2019)—If you’re looking for a talented, innovative and motivated group of leaders, the Army Acquisition Workforce is a good place to start. And at the top of the list might be this year’s winners of the Army Acquisition Excellence in Leadership Awards—a handful of groups and individuals that represent the best in leadership that the Army Acquisition Workforce has to offer. Among the multiple award winners were the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Ground Combat Systems (GCS), which received three awards, and the PEO for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (C3T), which received two.

Elizabeth Miller, product manager for Vehicle Protection Systems within the PEO GCS Project Manager for Stryker Brigade Combat Team, was named Defense Export and Cooperation Professional of the Year. PEO GCS logistics assistant Michelle Link was named Logistician of the Year, and the PEO GCS-led 15th Armored Brigade Combat Team received the Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year Award for the O-5 Level. The team included product office representatives from the PEO for Ammunition (now the Joint PEO for Armaments and Ammunition), the PEO for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, PEO C3T and the PEO for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (STRI). Collectively, they developed, implemented and completed a three-phase operation to convert the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division from an infantry brigade combat team to an armored brigade combat team in FY18.

Tara Claussen, product lead for Tactical Network Initialization and Configuration within PEO C3T’s Project Manager for Tactical Network, was named Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year, and Breck Tarr, product lead for Common Hardware Systems within PEO C3T’s Project Lead for Network Enablers, was named Acquisition Support Professional of the Year.

Lt. Col. Matthew Clark, joint product manager for Chemical Defense Pharmaceuticals for the Joint PEO for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), received the award for the Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year at the O-5 Level. Clark increased the number of countermeasures available to military and civilian personnel, and his decision to terminate development of a product that was not successfully progressing saved at least $15 million.

Col. Richard Haggerty, project manager for Instrumentation, Targets, Threat Simulators and Special Operations Forces Training Systems within PEO STRI, was named the Project Management/Project Director Office Professional of the Year at the O-6 Level. He led the Special Interest Persistent Cyber Training Environment program, spearheading a strategy that delivered the first prototype training platform in July 2018, only 12 months after the initial funding was received.

For more information on the awards, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/acquisition-awards/. The full list of winners is:.

Business Operations Professional of the Year: Chary Isabel Hernandez, Project Manager for Combat Ammunition Systems, PEO Ammunition (now the Joint PEO for Armaments and Ammunition)

Defense Export and Cooperation Professional of the Year: Elizabeth Miller, Product Manager for Vehicle Protection Systems, Project Manager for Stryker Brigade Combat Team, PEO GCS

Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year: Tara Claussen, Product Lead for Tactical Network Initialization and Configuration, Project Manager for Tactical Network, PEO C3T

Logistician of the Year: Michelle Link, PEO GCS

Science and Technology Professional of the Year: Jason L. Matheney, Project Management Office for Aircraft Survivability Equipment, PEO for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors

Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year (O-5 Level): Lt. Col. Matthew Clark, Joint Product Manager for Chemical Defense Pharmaceuticals, JPEO-CBRND

Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year (O-5 Level): 15th Armored Brigade Combat Team, PEO GCS

Project Management/Project Director Office Professional of the Year (O-6 Level): Col. Richard Haggerty, Project Manager for Instrumentation, Targets, Threat Simulators and Special Operations Forces Training Systems, PEO STRI

Project Management/Project Director Office Team of the Year (O-6 level): Multi-National Aviation Special Project Office, PEO Aviation

Also showcased at the ceremony were the winning authors and honorable mentions in the 2018 Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing. Their selections in the categories of acquisition reform, future operations, innovation and lessons learned were determined by our distinguished panel of judges.

The winners and honorable mentions are:

Category: Acquisition Reform

Winner: Middle Tier Acquisition Using Overlapping, Iterative and Incremental Development: A Faster Way to Combat Opioid Exposure
Authors: Col. Matthew G. Clark, Ph.D., Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense
Hannah Feldman supports the MCS communications team as a public affairs specialist as an employee of Patricio Enterprises Inc.

Honorable Mention: The Innovation of Going Fast!
Author: David M. Riel, Defense Acquisition University

Category: Future Operations

Winner: Organizing for the Future
Author: Lt. Col. Kyle McFarland, 418th Contracting Support Brigade.

Honorable Mention: Information Overmatch: How Information Dominance Will Win Our Nation’s Wars
Author: Matthew A. Horning, U.S. Army Futures Command’s Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team.

Category: Innovation

Winner: Using Warfighter Feedback to Improve Acquisition: There’s an App for That
Author: Michael J. Ravnitzky, Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington

Honorable Mention: Designing Systems to the Skillsets We Already Have
Author: Maj. Mark Scott, Small Satellite Integration and Infrastructure Division

Category: Lessons Learned

Winner: Lessons Learned: Collaborative Process Reduces Justification and Approval Processing Time by 44 Percent
Authors: Rachel Capaldi, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command
Joe O’Connell, U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) – Warren,

Honorable Mention: The “LLC” of Acquisition Streamlining: Lessons for Accelerating Product Development
Authors: Col. Matthew G. Clark, Ph.D., JPEO-CBRND
Dr. Renae Malek, JPEO-CBRND
Maj. Andrea Mountney, JPEO-CBRND

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Subscribe

By Sarah Aubouin

Scientists define symbiosis as an interdependent, mutually beneficial relationship between two very different species. In the Army’s Training with Industry (TWI) program, the same thing happens, except the relationship is between highly motivated Army acquisition professionals and their respective industry sponsors, including Amazon.com Inc., Ford Motor Co., General Dynamics Corp. and Motorola Solutions Inc.

The Army Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office sponsors TWI, a one-year assignment designed to expose military acquisition professionals to industry best practices, management techniques and organizational structures. Participants get onsite experience, training and industry knowledge not normally obtained through traditional military or civilian education. In exchange, the sponsoring corporate partner gets a no-cost, valuable, high-performing employee for one year.

In early May, the Army DACM Office hosted an event at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, that brought together incoming participants and outgoing graduates of the TWI program, along with Soldiers interested in participating in the future.

One of “our biggest gap[s] inside of Army and acquisition is that most acquisition professionals don’t understand how industry works,” Jeffrey S. White, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), said as he kicked off the event by welcoming participants. The TWI program aims to “understand what incentivizes the culture and the CEO of the corporation … how industry works and what’s important to them.” White also discussed leadership philosophy, cultural change, accelerated fielding, accelerated technology and accountability. “We’re here to deliver to the Soldier—progress, not process. We need to work with industry. We do a lot of things really well, but certain things in the culture we need to change.”

Those changes include the TWI program itself, which will be spreading its wings to include more participants. “We’re going to double the size of the TWI program over the next three to four years,” said Craig A. Spisak, Army DACM, responding to questions at the event.

TWI participants from the Army and from industry discussed their takeaways. Maj. Melissa Johnson, an outgoing TWI fellow assigned to Motorola Solutions in Hyattsville, Maryland, offered up some pointers to the incoming TWI students. “Communication is key. Write down your goals and be able to articulate your goals to your industry sponsor. Volunteer for projects and have an open mind, and bring back to the Army [any] untapped capabilities,” she said.

“Good fences make good neighbors,” said Motorola’s Wes Jones, “but good neighbors talk to each other.”

Maj. Desiree Dirige, a TWI participant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who was detailed to Amazon Web Services in Reston, Virginia, described how she and Amazon reaped the benefits of the TWI program. “I sat on the [Amazon Web Services’ DOD team], so a lot of the interactions that I got to have with them were from an acquisition-related perspective,” she explained. “I got to provide inside feedback to their acquisition contracting processes and procedures, all in hopes of helping them help us, the DOD customer, procure cloud services more efficiently. I got to see how they shape and develop their bid and capture strategies, along with helping them with building guides for DOD customers, especially the contracting officers. I also got an opportunity to really immerse myself in a very innovative culture.” She noted that the assignment also gave her the chance “to see how their leadership applied the Amazon leadership principles and how they develop their workforce, along with how they hire and manage their talent.”

Maj. Sheila Howell, who manages the TWI program for the Army DACM Office, asked participants how they adjusted to the commercial environment and handled any culture shock they encountered. “As a contracting officer, I deal with a lot of commercial contractors,” said Maj. Pedro Pacheco, formerly with the with the 414th Contracting Support Brigade out of Vicenza, Italy, and assigned to General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Michigan. “The one thing that surprised me with General Dynamics is their soft skills. As we all know, delivering a final, integrated product is always a challenge, so attending team meetings with suppliers was definitely insightful; the communication, the problem-solving, the team environment were impressive.”

If you have questions about applying to the TWI program, please contact your assignment officer. For general questions about TWI, contact Maj. Hassan Kamara, the Army DACM Office TWI program manager, at hassan.m.kamara.mil@mail.mil or 703-664-5702. Be sure to check out the TWI webpage at https://asc.army.mil/web/career-development/programs/aac-training-with-industry/, and for complete information on how to apply, go to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command website at https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Training%20With%20Industry.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Subscribe

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2019)—The sixth annual Maj. Gen. Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing competition is underway! Lt. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) and Director of the Army Acquisition Corps, announced the start of the annual competition today to encourage critical writing focused on Army acquisition issues.

“Each year, we invite participants to share their experiences, ideas, and perspectives in one of four categories—acquisition reform, future operations, innovation, or lessons learned—by submitting articles, essays, and opinion pieces,” Ostrowski said. The competition is designed to foster a dialogue on the way forward for the acquisition community in overcoming challenges to build the future force.

The competition is named for Maj. Gen. Greene, the Deputy Commanding General of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, who was killed by an Afghan soldier on Aug. 5, 2014, while on a visit to Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul, Afghanistan. During his distinguished 34-year career, he had served in ASA(ALT) as the Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management.

“The competition is open to everyone, and I am always impressed by the response,” Ostrowski continued, noting strong support from across the Department of Defense. “While our winners and honorable mentions each year are primarily from the Army acquisition community, they also include representatives from the Air Force, the Navy, and the Defense Acquisition University,” he said.

Those interested in participating should submit works between 500 and 1,800 words that are unclassified, original, not previously published or submitted to a writing competition, and completed during Fiscal Year 2019.

The deadline for submissions to usarmy.pentagon.hqda-asa-alt.mbx.acq-writing-awards@mail.mil is midnight, Sept. 24, 2019. Four award winners will be selected, one in each category, with four additional works selected for honorable mention.

The results of the competition will be announced in early December 2019. The winners will be recognized at the annual U.S. Army Acquisition Executive’s Excellence in Leadership Awards ceremony scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C., in February 2020.

Additional information about the competition can be found at www.army.mil/asaalt, including the call for submissions. The 2014 to 2018 Maj. Gen. Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing winners and honorable mentions are located at https://asc.army.mil/web/acquisition-awards/acquisition-wall-of-fame/#writing.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
Subscribe

By Tristin Maximilian

FORT BELVOIR, Va.—Two noncommissioned officers (NCOs) have been selected for the Army’s Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) program, offering the opportunity to pursue advanced degrees in acquisition and business disciplines at civilian universities.

Staff Sgt. Kailey Good-Hallahan (Courtesy photo)

“The Army offers so many untapped opportunities to service members. There truly is no other program for enlisted service members like ACS,” said Staff. Sgt. Kailey Good-Hallahan, one of the selectees. She will pursue an MBA with a focus on supply chain and operations at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in the next year.

Good-Hallahan  serves as a contracting NCO for the 715th Senior Contingency Contracting Team at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. “Being able to attend school full time while receiving the same level of face-to-face interaction with industry as my civilian counterparts will pay dividends later in life,” she said.

Staff Sgt. Gloria Gutierrez, assigned to the 641st Contracting Team at the Regional Contracting Center – Kuwait on Camp Arifjan, was also selected to attend ACS. “During my time in the Army, I have learned the importance of finding ways to better myself,” she said. “I trust this program will help better prepare NCOs to become more proficient within a continuously evolving Army.” Gutierrez will pursue an MBA at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.

NCOs have always been permitted to apply to ACS, but when the 51C military occupational specialty (MOS) was in its infancy, understrength contracting commands couldn’t support NCOs to going to ACS.

Staff Sgt. Gloria Gutierrez (Courtesy photo)

“Now we are at a point where we are over-strength and we can support NCOs going off to do this,” said Sgt. Maj. Joey Barden, proponent sergeant major for the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center.

Contracting NCOs often perform the same tasks as acquisition officers, including cost pricing, unbalanced pricing and regression analysis. As a result, Barden noted, NCOs should have the same level of training as the officers.

The ACS program is designed to enhance the credibility and capability of the contracting NCO. “This is the single most valuable program we offer our NCOs,” said Barden. He strongly encouraged eligible NCOs to apply. The deadline for submitting applications for next year is Jan. 15, 2018. Those interested should contact Sgt. 1st Class Gentle Gladney at 703-664-5718 or email gentle.m.gladney.mil@mail.mil for additional information.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News, the premier online news source for the Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (AL&T) Workforce.

By Susan L. Follett

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Aug. 24, 2017)—Steffanie B. Easter, acting assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and the Army acquisition executive, led a ceremony today marking the 50th anniversary of the Project Manager for Expeditionary Energy and Sustainment Systems (PM E2S2)—five decades of fielding operational energy solutions that save lives, reduce the logistical footprint and provide important combat capability to warfighting commanders.

Part of the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support (PEO CS&CSS), PM E2S2 was stood up Aug. 3, 1967—when gas was 33 cents a gallon, Lyndon Johnson was president and U.S. forces were deploying to Southeast Asia. Then PM Mobile Electric Power, the organization was chartered to serve as the DOD Lead Standardization Activity responsible for providing a modernized family of mobile electric generator sets throughout the services. Fifty years later, PM E2S2 is a lead integrator of operational energy solutions across multiple combat support systems.

“Every successful organization is backed by a group of people who are diligent and who are smart and who are committed to what they do,” Ms. Easter said as she thanked the past and present employees of PM E2S2. (Photos by Tristin Maximilian, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center)

“The reason our troops are able to deploy with a level of comfort is because of the capability you provide,” said Easter. “Thank you for using your expertise and your knowledge to build the most efficient and effective systems that we have in the DA and DOD. Thank you for taking the time to explain that you’re about more than generators to people like myself, who, from a distance, might not see that right away.”

She added, “Thank you for living up to the core values that you espouse as an organization: integrity, commitment, quality and innovation—because that is the foundation of excellence, and that is what I think you represent today.”

Sixteen project managers have led the organization—considered to be one of the oldest Army program management offices—and several took part in the anniversary celebration: retired Col. Mark Jones, who led PM Mobile Electric Power from July 2001 to June 2004; Michael Padden, PM for Mobile Electric Power from August 2007 to April 2011; Brig. Gen. Brian Cummings, PM for Mobile Electric Power from June 2011 to February 2014; and Col. Maurice Stewart, the first PM for E2S2, who served from May 2014 to June 2017. Also on hand for the event were Col. Adrian Marsh, current project manager for E2S2, and Ross Guckert, deputy PEO for CS&CSS.

“It’s notable when an organization is older than the person running it—especially in my case, since I’m not that young,” said Marsh. “But that longevity highlights the organization’s relevance despite technological and geopolitical change.” He added that recent engagements “only reaffirmed the importance of efficient and effective power on the battlefield that was the cause of our founding,” and he noted that PM E2S2 “touches all facets of national security, from the tactical all the way to the strategic level.”

PM Mobile Electric Power was renamed PM E2S2 in 2014 to reflect the growing importance of emerging operational energy capabilities and a fiscal imperative to improve efficiency and reduce sustainment costs wherever possible. It also added the Product Management Office for Force Sustainment Systems and the Product Director for Contingency Base Infrastructure.

“I can’t tell you how much I value and appreciate what you do,” said Cummings, noting that the team’s work provides “our contractors, our men and women in uniform of all service branches the comfort they need to do the operations and missions that are most sacred to our country.”

Ms. Easter and Ross Guckert, far right, deputy PEO for CS&CSS, pose with the current and former project managers of PM E2S2 and PM Mobile Electric Power.(Photos by Tristin Maximilian, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center)

PM E2S2 provides integrated materiel solutions, force sustainment support and contingency basing designs to joint warfighters across the full range of military operations. It is the life cycle manager for multiple combat support and combat service support capabilities, including power generation and power distribution; field feeding and field services; shelters and environmental controls; aerial delivery systems; and contingency base engineering design support.

“I couldn’t be more proud to work with a dedicated and motivated workforce that loves to come to work every day, loves what they do—and what they do, they do it very well,” Guckert said.

Easter echoed that sentiment and urged the organization to look forward as well as back. “Let the same resolve that got you through the first 50 years carry you through the next 50 years,” she said.

She added, “Thank you is all I want to say to you today. I appreciate everything you do, and I ask that you continue to stay on the front edge of your area of expertise … to continue to push yourself to improve, so that we as an Army evolve and you can evolve with us and in some areas you can push us to be better than we are today. … I wish you 50 more years of excellence, and I expect nothing less from you.”

Subscribe to Army AL&T News, the premier online news source for the Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (AL&T) Workforce.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Army Acquisition Executive’s (AAE) Excellence in Leadership Awards were announced at a ceremony Jan. 18 at the Pentagon, with this year’s honorees representing excellence across such fields as missile defense, workforce development, rapid fielding, logistics and Soldier equipment.

Hon. Bruce D. Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), hosted the awards ceremony, which was also attended by Dr. Mark T. Esper, secretary of the Army, and Jeffrey S. White, principal deputy to the ASA(ALT). Among the multiple award winners were the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Missiles and Space (MS), which received three individual awards, and PEO Aviation, which received an individual award and a group award.

William A. Breffeilh

William A. Breffeilh, deputy project manager for the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System within PEO MS, was named Acquisition Support Professional of the Year. Breffeilh oversaw an $872 million upgrade to the Patriot missile system that included hardware and software improvements and nearly half a million source lines of code. Breffeilh, who served as acting project manager for six months, also established an organizational professional development program, and his mentorship was a factor in one of his senior employees being selected as a deputy product manager.

Daniel S. Hemeyer

Daniel S. Hemeyer, also with PEO MS, received the Thomas E. “Tom” Mullins Business Operations Professional of the Year award. Hemeyer is director of the Program Management Directorate for the Lower Tier Project Office, and manages two Acquisition Category I programs. He was instrumental in identifying and implementing efficiency initiatives that yielded cost savings of more than $23 million, and leveraged more than $1.025 billion in cost avoidance from the Patriot International Engineering Services Program and more than $300 million in cost avoidance from the Patriot Field Surveillance Program and technology refresh initiatives.

Thomas N. Doss

Rounding out the individual awards at PEO MS is Thomas N. Doss, who was named Defense Exportability and Cooperation Professional of the Year. Doss manages the largest and most complex foreign military sales portfolio of any PEO in the Army, serving 43 partner nations with a combined case value of approximately $43.6 billion. His leadership during case development activities resulted in the receipt of a Letter of Request from Poland that represents an opportunity for the U.S. to strengthen its partnerships in Eastern Europe by countering potential aggression and to bolster the U.S. defense industrial base.

Billy R. McCain

Billy R. McCain, product support manager for the Product Manager for Global Combat Support System – Army (GCSS-A) within the PEO for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), was named Logistician of the Year for his work to lead the organization’s Deployment Division. GCSS-A is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that replaces aging and stove-piped tactical logistics systems with a web-based, integrated logistics and financial solution. Its fielding represents the largest ERP deployment in Army history, and thanks to McCain’s leadership, the program office migrated more than 20,000 units from legacy systems to GCSS-Army and improved property accountability of more than $92 billion in assets.

Thomas J. Coradeschi

Thomas J. Coradeschi, PEO Ammunition, was named Science and Technology Professional of the Year. Coradeschi carried out a system requirement review for the 7.62 mm XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing program, preliminary design review (PDR) for the 40 mm High Velocity M918E1 and 40 mm Low Velocity M781E1 Target Practice – Day/Night/Thermal cartridges, and a system functional review and PDRs for the XM1147 120 mm Advanced Multi-purpose program. All of these were crucial gates for proceeding to current test programs for these munitions, which are used by warfighters in every service.

Nickee L. Abbott

Not all of the winners came from PEOs: Nickee L. Abbott, director of Engineering and Integration for the Army Rapid Capabilities Office and chief engineer for the System of Systems Engineering and Integration Directorate, received the Honorable Dr. Claude Bolton Jr. Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year award. Abbott led engineering and systems integration efforts to get capabilities to Soldiers more quickly by combining multiple programs of record and emerging technologies from industry and government to create new rapid prototypes. One of these solutions is an electronic warfare capability that addresses an operational needs statement from United States Army Europe against the near-peer Russian threat and sets a precedent for incremental and rapid integration of prototypes for operational assessment and delivery.

Steven B. Piggott

The Barbara C. Heald (Deployed Civilian) Special Award was given to Steven B. Piggott for his support of the Expeditionary Contracting Command – Afghanistan during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Piggott, a contract specialist with the U.S. Army Contracting Command – New Jersey who deployed as a member of the U.S. Army Contracting Command’s Deployable Cadre Program, was responsible for a diverse workload of priority requirements in support of NATO Resolute Support and the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A). He provided contract administration for more than 26 contracts valued at more than $416 million, as well as pre-award support and customer requirements generation. The Heald award is one of five Secretary of Army Excellence in Contracting Awards; the remaining awards have not yet been announced.

PM AWARDS MARK AIR, GROUND DEFENSE EFFORTS

Lt. Col. Calvin J. Lane

PEO Aviation’s Lt. Col. Calvin J. Lane was named the Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year at the O5 Level for his efforts to advance the CH-47F Chinook Block II program. The program achieved Milestone B in early 2017, thanks to Lane’s contributions to the completion of an analysis of alternatives, development of an engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) request for proposal, demonstration of the critical technologies, completion of all required documentation and negotiation of the EMD contract.

Col. James W. Schirmer

Col. James W. Schirmer, project manager for Armored Fighting Vehicles within PEO for Ground Combat Systems, received the award for Project Management/Project Director Office Professional of the Year at the O6 Level. Schirmer’s leadership kicked off the Mobile Protected Firepower program, while simultaneously moving the Paladin Integrated Management Program toward a full-rate production decision, upgrading the Bradley Fighting Vehicle fleet and delivering the first combat vehicles in support of the Army’s European Deterrence Initiative—all on schedule and within budget.

A joint product team representing PEO Aviation and PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) received the Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year for the O5 Level for its work on the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS). The team culminated a 30-month extensive reorganization of the EMARSS program with a successful follow-on test and evaluation in April 2017. Once recognized as one of the Army’s most problematic acquisition programs, the EMARSS product team addressed several programmatic challenges to deliver the first 12 EMARSS on schedule and within budget constraints.

PEO Aviation and PEO IEW&S won the Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year for the O5 Level

The AAE’s other group award—Project Management/Project Director Office Team of the Year for the O6 Level—went to the Project Manager Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment (PM SPIE) within the PEO Soldier. PM SPIE’s $1.5 billion portfolio includes more than 420 individual items of clothing and individual equipment as well as helmets, body armor, eye protection and parachutes. The organization reached several milestones throughout 2016, ranging from workforce development to requirements planning. PM SPIE worked with several Army agencies to develop a streamlined requirements process for organizational clothing and individual equipment (OCIE) that reduces the timeline for OCIE requirements validation from more than 24 months to four months and cuts documentation from hundreds of pages to just 16. PM SPIE also developed a unique jungle combat boot capability and fielded more than 6,000 boots to the 25th Infantry Division in March 2017—an unprecedented nine-month achievement.

Project Manager Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment won the Project Management/Project Director Office Team of the Year for the O6 Level

WRITING AWARDS CONTINUE GREENE’S LEGACY
December also saw the announcement of the winners of the 2017 Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing. Greene was killed in August 2014 while serving as deputy commanding general of CSTC-A, and he previously served as the deputy for acquisition and systems management in the Office of ASA(ALT). “With these awards, we remember a leader who left an unfading mark on us all,” said Lt. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the ASA(ALT). “In fact, each year there are many submissions to this competition from those who worked for Maj. Gen. Greene, were mentored by him and vividly recall his lively spirit and lasting commitment to provide Soldiers with the best equipment in the world.”

Secretary of the Army Dr. Mark T. Esper, left, presented the 2017 Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing at the Jan. 18 ceremony attended by Hon. Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), and Jeffrey White, principal deputy ASA(ALT), right. To Esper’s right are award recipients John M. Spiller, PEO CS&CSS; Paul C. Manz, PEO Ammunition; Col. Richard Haggerty, PEO STRI; and Air Force Capt. Christopher W. Piercy, U.S. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency.

Winners and honorable mention entries were chosen across four categories: acquisition reform, future operations, lessons learned and innovation. This year’s honorees are:

Category: Acquisition Reform
Winner: Creating a Defense Acquisition Consulting Team
Author: Capt. Christopher W. Piercy, U.S. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency
Honorable Mention: A Model and Process for Transitioning Urgent Acquisition
Authors: Stephen F. Conley, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center; and Dr. Craig M. Arndt, Defense Acquisition University

Category: Future Operations
Winner: Future Operations: Tactical Power for Multi-Domain Battle (MDB)
Author: John M. Spiller, Lt. Col. USA (Ret.), PEO for Combat Support and Combat Service Support
Honorable Mention: Ready for Future Operations: Establishing an Organic Depot to Maintain the Army’s Premier Aerial Sensor System
Authors: Lt. Col. Kecia Troy and Carla Miller, PEO IEW&S; Joshua Erlien, Naval Service Warfare Center, Crane Division; Dr. Christina Bates, Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate

Category: Innovation
Winner: Network Assisted GPS … Coming Soon to a Precision Fire Mission Near You!
Author: Paul Manz, PEO Ammunition
Honorable Mention: Seeking Innovative Ways to Restore Our Warfighters
Authors: Kristy Pottol and John Getz, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity

Category: Lessons Learned
Winner: Driving Out “The Stupid” – Leveraging IT Lessons Learned from DOD and Industry
Author: Col. Richard Haggerty, PEO for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation
Honorable Mention: The Top Five Lessons I Learned While Working at Amazon.com Inc.
Author: Lt. Col. Rachael Hoagland, HQDA Chief Information Officer G-6

A special supplement featuring the winning entries is online now, and will accompany the print version of the April – June 2018 issue of Army AL&T magazine. If you wish to be added to the magazine’s mailing list, subscribe online; if you’d like multiple subscriptions, please send an email to armyalt@gmail.com.

View more photos of the awards ceremony.

See the Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence in Contracting 2017 winners.

By Tristin Maximilian

FORT BELVOIR, Va.—Two noncommissioned officers (NCOs) have been selected for the Army’s Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) program, offering the opportunity to pursue advanced degrees in acquisition and business disciplines at civilian universities.

Staff Sgt. Kailey Good-Hallahan (Courtesy photo)

“The Army offers so many untapped opportunities to service members. There truly is no other program for enlisted service members like ACS,” said Staff. Sgt. Kailey Good-Hallahan, one of the selectees. She will pursue an MBA with a focus on supply chain and operations at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in the next year.

Good-Hallahan  serves as a contracting NCO for the 715th Senior Contingency Contracting Team at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. “Being able to attend school full time while receiving the same level of face-to-face interaction with industry as my civilian counterparts will pay dividends later in life,” she said.

Staff Sgt. Gloria Gutierrez, assigned to the 641st Contracting Team at the Regional Contracting Center – Kuwait on Camp Arifjan, was also selected to attend ACS. “During my time in the Army, I have learned the importance of finding ways to better myself,” she said. “I trust this program will help better prepare NCOs to become more proficient within a continuously evolving Army.” Gutierrez will pursue an MBA at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.

NCOs have always been permitted to apply to ACS, but when the 51C military occupational specialty (MOS) was in its infancy, understrength contracting commands couldn’t support NCOs to going to ACS.

Staff Sgt. Gloria Gutierrez (Courtesy photo)

“Now we are at a point where we are over-strength and we can support NCOs going off to do this,” said Sgt. Maj. Joey Barden, proponent sergeant major for the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center.

Contracting NCOs often perform the same tasks as acquisition officers, including cost pricing, unbalanced pricing and regression analysis. As a result, Barden noted, NCOs should have the same level of training as the officers.

The ACS program is designed to enhance the credibility and capability of the contracting NCO. “This is the single most valuable program we offer our NCOs,” said Barden. He strongly encouraged eligible NCOs to apply. The deadline for submitting applications for next year is Jan. 15, 2018. Those interested should contact Sgt. 1st Class Gentle Gladney at 703-664-5718 or email gentle.m.gladney.mil@mail.mil for additional information.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News, the premier online news source for the Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (AL&T) Workforce.

By Susan L. Follett

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Aug. 24, 2017)—Steffanie B. Easter, acting assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and the Army acquisition executive, led a ceremony today marking the 50th anniversary of the Project Manager for Expeditionary Energy and Sustainment Systems (PM E2S2)—five decades of fielding operational energy solutions that save lives, reduce the logistical footprint and provide important combat capability to warfighting commanders.

Part of the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support (PEO CS&CSS), PM E2S2 was stood up Aug. 3, 1967—when gas was 33 cents a gallon, Lyndon Johnson was president and U.S. forces were deploying to Southeast Asia. Then PM Mobile Electric Power, the organization was chartered to serve as the DOD Lead Standardization Activity responsible for providing a modernized family of mobile electric generator sets throughout the services. Fifty years later, PM E2S2 is a lead integrator of operational energy solutions across multiple combat support systems.

“Every successful organization is backed by a group of people who are diligent and who are smart and who are committed to what they do,” Ms. Easter said as she thanked the past and present employees of PM E2S2. (Photos by Tristin Maximilian, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center)

“The reason our troops are able to deploy with a level of comfort is because of the capability you provide,” said Easter. “Thank you for using your expertise and your knowledge to build the most efficient and effective systems that we have in the DA and DOD. Thank you for taking the time to explain that you’re about more than generators to people like myself, who, from a distance, might not see that right away.”

She added, “Thank you for living up to the core values that you espouse as an organization: integrity, commitment, quality and innovation—because that is the foundation of excellence, and that is what I think you represent today.”

Sixteen project managers have led the organization—considered to be one of the oldest Army program management offices—and several took part in the anniversary celebration: retired Col. Mark Jones, who led PM Mobile Electric Power from July 2001 to June 2004; Michael Padden, PM for Mobile Electric Power from August 2007 to April 2011; Brig. Gen. Brian Cummings, PM for Mobile Electric Power from June 2011 to February 2014; and Col. Maurice Stewart, the first PM for E2S2, who served from May 2014 to June 2017. Also on hand for the event were Col. Adrian Marsh, current project manager for E2S2, and Ross Guckert, deputy PEO for CS&CSS.

“It’s notable when an organization is older than the person running it—especially in my case, since I’m not that young,” said Marsh. “But that longevity highlights the organization’s relevance despite technological and geopolitical change.” He added that recent engagements “only reaffirmed the importance of efficient and effective power on the battlefield that was the cause of our founding,” and he noted that PM E2S2 “touches all facets of national security, from the tactical all the way to the strategic level.”

PM Mobile Electric Power was renamed PM E2S2 in 2014 to reflect the growing importance of emerging operational energy capabilities and a fiscal imperative to improve efficiency and reduce sustainment costs wherever possible. It also added the Product Management Office for Force Sustainment Systems and the Product Director for Contingency Base Infrastructure.

“I can’t tell you how much I value and appreciate what you do,” said Cummings, noting that the team’s work provides “our contractors, our men and women in uniform of all service branches the comfort they need to do the operations and missions that are most sacred to our country.”

Ms. Easter and Ross Guckert, far right, deputy PEO for CS&CSS, pose with the current and former project managers of PM E2S2 and PM Mobile Electric Power.(Photos by Tristin Maximilian, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center)

PM E2S2 provides integrated materiel solutions, force sustainment support and contingency basing designs to joint warfighters across the full range of military operations. It is the life cycle manager for multiple combat support and combat service support capabilities, including power generation and power distribution; field feeding and field services; shelters and environmental controls; aerial delivery systems; and contingency base engineering design support.

“I couldn’t be more proud to work with a dedicated and motivated workforce that loves to come to work every day, loves what they do—and what they do, they do it very well,” Guckert said.

Easter echoed that sentiment and urged the organization to look forward as well as back. “Let the same resolve that got you through the first 50 years carry you through the next 50 years,” she said.

She added, “Thank you is all I want to say to you today. I appreciate everything you do, and I ask that you continue to stay on the front edge of your area of expertise … to continue to push yourself to improve, so that we as an Army evolve and you can evolve with us and in some areas you can push us to be better than we are today. … I wish you 50 more years of excellence, and I expect nothing less from you.”

Subscribe to Army AL&T News, the premier online news source for the Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (AL&T) Workforce.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Army Acquisition Executive’s (AAE) Excellence in Leadership Awards were announced at a ceremony Jan. 18 at the Pentagon, with this year’s honorees representing excellence across such fields as missile defense, workforce development, rapid fielding, logistics and Soldier equipment.

Hon. Bruce D. Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), hosted the awards ceremony, which was also attended by Dr. Mark T. Esper, secretary of the Army, and Jeffrey S. White, principal deputy to the ASA(ALT). Among the multiple award winners were the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Missiles and Space (MS), which received three individual awards, and PEO Aviation, which received an individual award and a group award.

William A. Breffeilh

William A. Breffeilh, deputy project manager for the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System within PEO MS, was named Acquisition Support Professional of the Year. Breffeilh oversaw an $872 million upgrade to the Patriot missile system that included hardware and software improvements and nearly half a million source lines of code. Breffeilh, who served as acting project manager for six months, also established an organizational professional development program, and his mentorship was a factor in one of his senior employees being selected as a deputy product manager.

Daniel S. Hemeyer

Daniel S. Hemeyer, also with PEO MS, received the Thomas E. “Tom” Mullins Business Operations Professional of the Year award. Hemeyer is director of the Program Management Directorate for the Lower Tier Project Office, and manages two Acquisition Category I programs. He was instrumental in identifying and implementing efficiency initiatives that yielded cost savings of more than $23 million, and leveraged more than $1.025 billion in cost avoidance from the Patriot International Engineering Services Program and more than $300 million in cost avoidance from the Patriot Field Surveillance Program and technology refresh initiatives.

Thomas N. Doss

Rounding out the individual awards at PEO MS is Thomas N. Doss, who was named Defense Exportability and Cooperation Professional of the Year. Doss manages the largest and most complex foreign military sales portfolio of any PEO in the Army, serving 43 partner nations with a combined case value of approximately $43.6 billion. His leadership during case development activities resulted in the receipt of a Letter of Request from Poland that represents an opportunity for the U.S. to strengthen its partnerships in Eastern Europe by countering potential aggression and to bolster the U.S. defense industrial base.

Billy R. McCain

Billy R. McCain, product support manager for the Product Manager for Global Combat Support System – Army (GCSS-A) within the PEO for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), was named Logistician of the Year for his work to lead the organization’s Deployment Division. GCSS-A is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that replaces aging and stove-piped tactical logistics systems with a web-based, integrated logistics and financial solution. Its fielding represents the largest ERP deployment in Army history, and thanks to McCain’s leadership, the program office migrated more than 20,000 units from legacy systems to GCSS-Army and improved property accountability of more than $92 billion in assets.

Thomas J. Coradeschi

Thomas J. Coradeschi, PEO Ammunition, was named Science and Technology Professional of the Year. Coradeschi carried out a system requirement review for the 7.62 mm XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing program, preliminary design review (PDR) for the 40 mm High Velocity M918E1 and 40 mm Low Velocity M781E1 Target Practice – Day/Night/Thermal cartridges, and a system functional review and PDRs for the XM1147 120 mm Advanced Multi-purpose program. All of these were crucial gates for proceeding to current test programs for these munitions, which are used by warfighters in every service.

Nickee L. Abbott

Not all of the winners came from PEOs: Nickee L. Abbott, director of Engineering and Integration for the Army Rapid Capabilities Office and chief engineer for the System of Systems Engineering and Integration Directorate, received the Honorable Dr. Claude Bolton Jr. Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year award. Abbott led engineering and systems integration efforts to get capabilities to Soldiers more quickly by combining multiple programs of record and emerging technologies from industry and government to create new rapid prototypes. One of these solutions is an electronic warfare capability that addresses an operational needs statement from United States Army Europe against the near-peer Russian threat and sets a precedent for incremental and rapid integration of prototypes for operational assessment and delivery.

Steven B. Piggott

The Barbara C. Heald (Deployed Civilian) Special Award was given to Steven B. Piggott for his support of the Expeditionary Contracting Command – Afghanistan during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Piggott, a contract specialist with the U.S. Army Contracting Command – New Jersey who deployed as a member of the U.S. Army Contracting Command’s Deployable Cadre Program, was responsible for a diverse workload of priority requirements in support of NATO Resolute Support and the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A). He provided contract administration for more than 26 contracts valued at more than $416 million, as well as pre-award support and customer requirements generation. The Heald award is one of five Secretary of Army Excellence in Contracting Awards; the remaining awards have not yet been announced.

PM AWARDS MARK AIR, GROUND DEFENSE EFFORTS

Lt. Col. Calvin J. Lane

PEO Aviation’s Lt. Col. Calvin J. Lane was named the Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year at the O5 Level for his efforts to advance the CH-47F Chinook Block II program. The program achieved Milestone B in early 2017, thanks to Lane’s contributions to the completion of an analysis of alternatives, development of an engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) request for proposal, demonstration of the critical technologies, completion of all required documentation and negotiation of the EMD contract.

Col. James W. Schirmer

Col. James W. Schirmer, project manager for Armored Fighting Vehicles within PEO for Ground Combat Systems, received the award for Project Management/Project Director Office Professional of the Year at the O6 Level. Schirmer’s leadership kicked off the Mobile Protected Firepower program, while simultaneously moving the Paladin Integrated Management Program toward a full-rate production decision, upgrading the Bradley Fighting Vehicle fleet and delivering the first combat vehicles in support of the Army’s European Deterrence Initiative—all on schedule and within budget.

A joint product team representing PEO Aviation and PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) received the Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year for the O5 Level for its work on the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS). The team culminated a 30-month extensive reorganization of the EMARSS program with a successful follow-on test and evaluation in April 2017. Once recognized as one of the Army’s most problematic acquisition programs, the EMARSS product team addressed several programmatic challenges to deliver the first 12 EMARSS on schedule and within budget constraints.

PEO Aviation and PEO IEW&S won the Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year for the O5 Level

The AAE’s other group award—Project Management/Project Director Office Team of the Year for the O6 Level—went to the Project Manager Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment (PM SPIE) within the PEO Soldier. PM SPIE’s $1.5 billion portfolio includes more than 420 individual items of clothing and individual equipment as well as helmets, body armor, eye protection and parachutes. The organization reached several milestones throughout 2016, ranging from workforce development to requirements planning. PM SPIE worked with several Army agencies to develop a streamlined requirements process for organizational clothing and individual equipment (OCIE) that reduces the timeline for OCIE requirements validation from more than 24 months to four months and cuts documentation from hundreds of pages to just 16. PM SPIE also developed a unique jungle combat boot capability and fielded more than 6,000 boots to the 25th Infantry Division in March 2017—an unprecedented nine-month achievement.

Project Manager Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment won the Project Management/Project Director Office Team of the Year for the O6 Level

WRITING AWARDS CONTINUE GREENE’S LEGACY
December also saw the announcement of the winners of the 2017 Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing. Greene was killed in August 2014 while serving as deputy commanding general of CSTC-A, and he previously served as the deputy for acquisition and systems management in the Office of ASA(ALT). “With these awards, we remember a leader who left an unfading mark on us all,” said Lt. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the ASA(ALT). “In fact, each year there are many submissions to this competition from those who worked for Maj. Gen. Greene, were mentored by him and vividly recall his lively spirit and lasting commitment to provide Soldiers with the best equipment in the world.”

Secretary of the Army Dr. Mark T. Esper, left, presented the 2017 Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing at the Jan. 18 ceremony attended by Hon. Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)), and Jeffrey White, principal deputy ASA(ALT), right. To Esper’s right are award recipients John M. Spiller, PEO CS&CSS; Paul C. Manz, PEO Ammunition; Col. Richard Haggerty, PEO STRI; and Air Force Capt. Christopher W. Piercy, U.S. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency.

Winners and honorable mention entries were chosen across four categories: acquisition reform, future operations, lessons learned and innovation. This year’s honorees are:

Category: Acquisition Reform
Winner: Creating a Defense Acquisition Consulting Team
Author: Capt. Christopher W. Piercy, U.S. Air Force Installation Contracting Agency
Honorable Mention: A Model and Process for Transitioning Urgent Acquisition
Authors: Stephen F. Conley, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center; and Dr. Craig M. Arndt, Defense Acquisition University

Category: Future Operations
Winner: Future Operations: Tactical Power for Multi-Domain Battle (MDB)
Author: John M. Spiller, Lt. Col. USA (Ret.), PEO for Combat Support and Combat Service Support
Honorable Mention: Ready for Future Operations: Establishing an Organic Depot to Maintain the Army’s Premier Aerial Sensor System
Authors: Lt. Col. Kecia Troy and Carla Miller, PEO IEW&S; Joshua Erlien, Naval Service Warfare Center, Crane Division; Dr. Christina Bates, Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate

Category: Innovation
Winner: Network Assisted GPS … Coming Soon to a Precision Fire Mission Near You!
Author: Paul Manz, PEO Ammunition
Honorable Mention: Seeking Innovative Ways to Restore Our Warfighters
Authors: Kristy Pottol and John Getz, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity

Category: Lessons Learned
Winner: Driving Out “The Stupid” – Leveraging IT Lessons Learned from DOD and Industry
Author: Col. Richard Haggerty, PEO for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation
Honorable Mention: The Top Five Lessons I Learned While Working at Amazon.com Inc.
Author: Lt. Col. Rachael Hoagland, HQDA Chief Information Officer G-6

A special supplement featuring the winning entries is online now, and will accompany the print version of the April – June 2018 issue of Army AL&T magazine. If you wish to be added to the magazine’s mailing list, subscribe online; if you’d like multiple subscriptions, please send an email to armyalt@gmail.com.

View more photos of the awards ceremony.

See the Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence in Contracting 2017 winners.

By Susan L. Follett

WASHINGTON (Oct. 7, 2019)—Hon. Ellen M. Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, has announced the winners of the 2019 Defense Acquisition Workforce Achievement Awards, with the Army taking home honors in nine categories.

“It is important that we continue to recognize the outstanding contributions of our defense acquisition professionals who are critical in supporting our warfighter and the defense mission,” Lord said in announcing the winners.

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Ground Vehicle Systems Center in Warren, Michigan, took home the Workforce Development Innovation Award (Large Organization), and eight Army personnel received individual awards.

Maj. Eugene Choi, with the Army Contracting Command, received the award for Acquisition in an Expeditionary Environment; and Nicole Gulla, Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) for Armaments and Ammunition, received the award for Individual Achievement Award for Cost Estimating. The Individual Achievement Award for Facilities Engineering went to Laureen Borochaner, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Production, Quality and Manufacturing Award went to CCDC’s James G. Clark, and the award for Individual Achievement in Program Management Award was given to Col. David Warnick, with the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Missiles and Space.

Col. Sean McMurry, JPEO for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense, received the Individual Achievement Award for Requirements Management; and Lt. Col. Mara Kreishman-Deitrick, U.S. Army Futures Command, received the Science and Technology Manager Award. The newest award, for Individual Achievement in Software, went to George Senger with the PEO for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical.

The award ceremony will be held Oct. 29 at the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. The full list of winners follows:

Individual Achievement Awards:
Acquisition in an Expeditionary Environment: Maj. Eugene Choi, Army Contracting Command
Auditing: Jessica Oliver, Defense Contract Audit Agency
Contracting and Procurement: Simon Klink, F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office (JPO), U.S. Navy
Cost Estimating: Nicole E. Gulla, JPEO Armaments and Ammunition
Earned Value Management: Melissa Ransom, PEO Land Systems, U.S. Marine Corps
Engineering: Joseph Krumenacker, F-35 Lightning II JPO
Facilities Engineering: Laureen A. Borochaner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Financial Management: Julie Blankenbaker, Naval Air Systems Command
Information Technology: Capt. Yazmin H. Garcia Smith, U.S. Air Force Materiel Command
International Partnership: Jean-Anne A. Butler, Air Force Materiel Command
Life Cycle Logistics: Chief Warrant Officer 4 Martin A. Lopez Beltran, Marine Corps Systems Command
Production, Quality and Manufacturing: James G. Clark, Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC)
Program Management: Col. David A. Warnick, PEO Missiles and Space
Requirements Management: Col. Sean A. McMurry, JPEO Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense
Science and Technology Manager: Lt. Col. Mara Kreishman-Deitrick, Army Futures Command
Services Acquisition: Alicia Spurling, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
Small Business: Paul D. Ward, SOCOM
Software: George Senger, PEO Command, Control and Communications – Tactical
Test and Evaluation: Col. Varun Pari, F-35 Lightning II JPO

Team Awards:
Software Innovation: U.S. Air Force Kessel Run – Boston
Flexibility in Contracting: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency JANUS Team – Springfield, Virginia
Workforce Development Innovation (Large Organization): CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center – Warren, Michigan
Workforce Development Innovation (Small Organization): SOCOM Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics – MacDill Air Force Base, Florida

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce. 
 Subscribe

by Susan L. Follett

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (October 25, 2019)—The Sub Compact Weapon Team, part of the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Soldier, has received the David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award for its work to use an other-transaction authority (OTA) to deliver a new subcompact weapon system in 12 months.

The team, part of PEO Soldier’s Project Manager for Soldier Weapons, is one of five teams across the DOD that received the prestigious award, given by the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment to organizations that have demonstrated exemplary performance and innovation in acquiring and delivering products and capabilities for the warfighter.

Managed by the Product Manager for Individual Weapons, the team includes representatives from the product management office as well as the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) – Armaments Center; the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center; the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command; the CCDC Army Research Laboratory’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate; Army Contracting Command – New Jersey (ACC-NJ): and the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM).

The team was responding to an urgent request issued in the spring of 2018 from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command for a new weapon that would support the U.S. Army’s Protective Services Battalion mission to provide continuous, protective close-in security to senior high-risk personnel while maintaining stringent discretion in attire and profile. Based on the guidance from the secretary of the Army to select the weapon in 12 months, the team moved from a standard DOD 5000.01 acquisition approach using Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based contracting to an OTA approach. In July 2018, ACC-NJ released a prototype opportunity notice to support the procurement of subcompact weapons for evaluation, testing, two phases of down-selection, and fielding. To maintain the accelerated schedule, offerors submitted videos in the first stage of down-selection to visually demonstrate how their weapons met the minimum requirements, along with pricing information.

Technical testing on the candidate systems began at Aberdeen Test Center, Maryland, in November 2018, and a Soldier touch point was conducted in January 2019 at Quantico, Virginia. The team’s logistics and fielding leads coordinated closely with TACOM Total Package Fielding and Defense Logistics Agency Distribution in Anniston, Alabama, to ensure that weapons were quickly processed through Army logistics systems to meet the required first unit equipped date of May 31, 2019.

On March 29, the Army awarded a production delivery order to Brugger and Thomet USA for its APC9K Semi-Automatic Carbine. The award will furnish 350 APC9Ks, with an option to acquire up to 1,000 of the subcompact 9 mm weapons, with a total ceiling amount of $2.5 million. On May 31, the team fielded the first set of 10 weapons to the 701st Military Police Protective Services Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia—approximately two and a half years earlier than it would have if the program had pursued a FAR-based approach with a formal Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System-approved requirement.

Also receiving Packard Awards were the Department of the Air Force Launch Enterprise Team and the U.S. Air Force Pitch Day team, as well as two teams from the U.S. Special Operations Command: Distributed Common Ground/Surface System – Special Operations Forces, and the Tactical Assault Kit Configuration Steering Board.

A ceremony honoring the winners will be hosted by Hon. Ellen M. Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, and David L. Norquist, deputy secretary of defense, Dec. 2 at the Pentagon.

For more Army acquisition award winners, see the Acquisition Wall of Fame.

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce. 
 Subscribe

By Susan L. Follett

WASHINGTON (Nov. 21, 2019)—Stuart Hazlett, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for procurement, has announced the winners of the Secretary of the Army Awards for Excellence in Contracting for fiscal year 2019. Joseph M. Carroll, U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) – Redstone, was named Contracting Professional of the Year, and Master Sgt. Jeremiah J. Scheil, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – Savannah, received the award for Contracting NCO of the Year.

The program’s newest award, Innovation in Contracting Strategies, went to the Facility Support Operations Services Team at the Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) – Fort Bliss, Texas.

The annual awards recognize exemplary contracting organizations and individuals, highlighting contracting organizations and individuals that excel in customer satisfaction, productivity, process improvement, and quality enhancement. Winning teams and individuals will be honored at a ceremony hosted by Dr. Bruce D. Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, Dec. 11 in Arlington, Virginia.

The complete list of winners is as follows: 

Team Awards

Specialized Services and Construction Contracting Award: USACE Border Infrastructure Team, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – Dallas
Systems, R&D, Logistics Support (Sustainment) Contracting Award: Enterprise Training Services Contract Contracting Team, U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) – Orlando
Installation Level Contracting Office and/or Directorate of Contracting Award: Other Transaction Agreement Training Team, ACC – New Jersey
Contingency Contracting Award: 902nd Contracting Battalion, Joint Base Lewis – McChord, Washington

Special Awards

Barbara C. Heald (Deployed Civilian) Award: Serina A. Allingham, ACC – Rock Island
Innovation in Contracting Strategies Award: Facility Support Operations Services Team, Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) – Fort Bliss, Texas
Exceptional Support of the Ability One Program Award: Product Manager for Sets, Kits, Outfits and Tools Team, Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, Project Manager for Force Projection; and ACC – Warren
Outstanding Contract Specialist/Procurement Analyst Award: Suzanne Wiggins, USACE –Dallas
Contracting Professional of the Year Award: Joseph M. Carroll, ACC– Redstone
Contracting NCO of the Year Award: Master Sgt. Jeremiah J. Scheil, USACE – Savannah

Contracting Officer Awards

Installation Level Contracting Office and/or Directorate of Contracting Award: Shaun McAfee, Regional Contracting Office – Italy; 414th Contracting Support Brigade
Specialized Services and Construction Contracting Award: Teresa V. Dinwiddie, MICC – Yuma Proving Ground
Systems, R&D, Logistics Support (Sustainment) Contracting Award: Stephanie M. James, ACC – Rock Island
Contingency Contracting Award: Maj. Katrina B. Grimes, 648th Contracting Team, 922nd Contracting Battalion, MICC – Fort Campbell

Subscribe to Army AL&T News – the premier online news source for the Army Acquisition Workforce.
 Subscribe