Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 1
Upcoming Career Conferences and Events
Inclusion herein is for informational purposes only and does not in any way imply Defense Acquisition University or Department of Defense endorsement of any particular event or organization.
Military Hiring ConferencesOrion Military Hiring Conferences will be held at the following locations and dates:
Dates Location
May 3-4 Military Technician Hiring Conference, Philidel-phia, Pa.
May 4-5 Distinguished Military Hiring Conference, Philadelphia, Pa.
May 7-8 Military Hiring Conference, Columbia, S.C.
May 7-8 Military Hiring Conference, Seattle, Wash.
May 17-18 Military Hiring Conference, Chicago, Ill.
May 17-18 Military Hiring Conference, Houston, Texas
June 7-8 Military Technician Hiring Conference, San Diego, Calif.
June 8-9 Military Hiring Conference, San Diego, Calif.
June 18-19Military Hiring Conference, Detroit, Mich.
June 18-19 Military Hiring Conference, Houston, Texas
June 21-22 Military Hiring Conference, Norfolk, Va.
June 22-23 Military Hiring Conference, Atlanta, Geo.
June 25-26 Military Hiring Conference, Seattle, Wash.
June 28-29 Military Hiring Conference, Parsippany, N.J.
For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit http://www.oriontalent.com/jobseekers_hiringconfer-ences.aspx.
An Orion Military Hiring Conference is a chance for veterans to be interviewed and potential employers to select the best military job seekers. Veterans at-tending will be prescreened, qualified, and suitably matched with available opportunities.
Employers can interview up to 10 candidates in a single day, all in a private and professional interview setting. Orion carefully selects its hotels to enhance its clients’ experience.
The afternoon prior to interviews, employers will have the opportunity to familiarize the candidates with their company and the position(s) for which they will be interviewing (highly recommended, but not required).
Throughout the conference, veterans and potential employers will receive personalized attention to en-sure the best in customer service, including insight on the candidates, and advice on the most effective hiring strategy.
Orion’s goal is that its candidates will have completed the hiring process and accepted employer offers within 14 days of attending the conference.
Federal Employees: Take The Guesswork Out of Retiring From Federal ServiceThe ProFeds Federal Retirement Impact Workshop gives federal employees a no-nonsense approach to evaluat-ing the financial impact of benefits decisions made as they near retirement.
ProFeds is a vetted provider for Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System (CSRS & FERS) retirement training and is proud to be a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), which carries an impeccable reputation with federal agencies and employees alike.
ProFeds training agenda includes:• General Retirement Planning• Federal Pensions (CSRS & FERS)• Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)• Social Security (SS)• Special Retirement Supplement (SRS)• Life Insurance (FEGLI)• Health Insurance (FEHB)
Career Development
2 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
• Long Term Care Insurance (FLTCIP)• Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
The GSA Schedule contract allows federal customers to efficiently purchase retirement training services from ProFeds. As a GSA Schedule vendor, ProFeds provides federal government agencies with its Federal Retire-ment Impact Workshop—a versatile training program which satisfies federal agencies’ requirement to provide pre-retirement training to their employees as they near retirement.
Federal Retirement Impact Workshops scheduled for May-June 2020 follow:
Dates Location
May 8, 2020 River’s Edge Hotel, Portland, Oregon
May 12 Courtyard by Marriott Denver North/West-minster, Westminster, Colorado
May 13 NIU Naperville Conference Center, Naper-ville, Illinois
May 19 Montgomery College Room SW-301, Rock-ville, Maryland
May 21 The Training Room Colony Park, West Des Moines, Iowa
June 9 Residence Inn by Marriott, Natick, Massa-chussetts
June 10 Beavercreek Office Suites at Signal Hill Capital, Beavercreek, Ohio
June 11 Via Avalon Executive Suites, Riverside, California
June 12 Salt Lake Community College, West Sandy, Utah
June 16 Embassy Suites, Tampa, Florida
June 18 Grapevine Convention Center, Grapevine, Texas
June 30 Embassy Suites Convention Center, Wash-ington, D.C.
For those interested in attending, the ProFeds team is happy to help you by phone at 844-776-3337 or by email at [email protected]. Visit the website online at https://fedimpact.com/twwm/.
Federal Workforce Development ConferenceGraduate School USA (GSUSA) presents our third an-nual Federal Workforce Development Conference, June 18, at Embassy Suites Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The conference, entitled “Today’s Federal Work-force: Defining Pathways for Organizational Success,” will examine how to develop the tools and techniques to solve problems and issues, and create programs for a more efficient government. Conference sessions will be presented by 2019 Deming Award winning agen-cies—Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State, Small Business Administration, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Conference will showcase how developing and cultivating effective solutions for the everyday issues affecting the federal workforce can improve productivity, quality, and team-work. Further, it will provide participants with tools and techniques that can help enhance job performance and advance an agency’s mission. Participants will hear from federal agencies that have implemented innovative pro-grams and federal leaders who have unique perspec-tives on today’s federal workforce. Register online at https://www.graduateschool.edu/content/workforce3.
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 3
Expeditionary Contracting Officers Wanted
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY NEWSDianne Ryder
The Defense Logistics Agency relies heavily on those in the contracting series to provide acquisition services and contract support to assist the agency’s military and civilian partners around the world. To meet its goal of 40 qualified contracting officers, the Joint Contingency Acquisition Sup-port Office (JCASO) is recruiting members for its Expedi-tionary Contracting Cadre.
Cadre members must be ready to deploy to establish logis-tics support in the initial stages of disaster relief and con-tingency operations as part of DLA’s Rapid Deployment Teams, the DLA Mission Support Team, or U.S. Transpor-tation Command’s newly established Joint Enabling Capa-bilities Command.
Charmaine Camper, director of expeditionary contracting for DLA Logistics Operations and JCASO, compares the cadre’s unique mission to that of first responders. “You get to go out there and be part of the operation and support the warfighter side-by-side, but it’s short-term,” she said. “The range of support is one week to three weeks, and then you come home.”
Potential expeditionary contracting officers must have achieved a Level II in contracting education and have expertise performing simplified acquisition and micropurchases. An-other important attribute is an attitude of service versus self, Camper said. “That’s the kind of thing we’re looking for in our informal interviews—to see if someone’s heart is in the right place. If it’s all about self, maybe this is not for you,” she said.
Candidates receive pre-deployment training at Camp Atter-bury, Indiana, as well as online and annual training. “What they’re gaining from the program is a skillset that they would not normally gain from behind a desk. This is working side-by-side with the warfighter,” Camper said.
Continuous training and reach-back support to the agency give expeditionary contracting officers access to informa-tion and other DLA resources. Once they return home, after action reports and lessons learned are incorporated into standard operating procedures. “That helps all of us be good at what we do and be able to answer questions,” Camper said.
Being able to see the fruits of their labor due to fast-paced operations is an aspect of the job most expeditionary con-
tracting officers appreciate, she added.“When you purchase something, you actually see it and you see the customer using what you purchased,” she said.
The cadre was previously limited to employees in grades GS-12 through 14, but recently opened up to GS-11s. Stepha-nie Lowe, a contracting officer with DLA Aviation, was ini-tially unable to participate because of her grade, but is now in her second year with the cadre. “At the time, they were only accepting GS-12s and above. In 2017, I was finally able to join,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since Char-maine came to DLA Aviation and gave a speech in 2015; I’ll never forget it. Her presentation was great.”
Lowe said she received a handout from that roadshow that she immediately hung up at her desk. It remains there today, and she calls her participation in real-world events like Hur-ricane Florence and Operation Border Support exhilarating. “We are embedded with the military… Whatever is needed at that moment, that’s what we do. It’s an ebb and flow,” she said. “It’s not your everyday job. Whatever comes, you have to be ready to step in and do what it takes,” she continued. “And because of all the training that we did, we are prepared to handle whatever situation is thrown at us.”
Cadre members must obtain supervisory approval before beginning the program. Lowe’s supervisor, team lead, and division chief responded to her request to join by telling her they’d make sure her workload was covered when she de-ployed. “They have been so supportive and haven’t given me any pushback,” she said. “If you don’t have that support, it puts a lot of pressure on the ECO [Expeditionary Contract-ing Officer].”
Lowe recommends the cadre to anyone who’s eligible. “If you enjoy working for the warfighter, doing everything that you can, I would say that ECO is a position for you,” she said. “It’s 100% voluntary and 100% worth all of the effort.”
Camper affirms that broadening the pool of candidates has been very successful. “Stephanie has] proven that if you’re an 1102, it doesn’t matter if you’re a GS-11 or 12—you can do the job,” she said. “If you’re interested, talk with your supervisor, send me a resumé, and then we’ll contact them. It’s as simple as that.”
([email protected] or 571-767-1478)
Career Development
4 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
AFIT Offers Civilian Educational OpportunitiesAIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CENTER FOR SPACE RESEARCH AND ASSURANCE (FEB. 6, 2020)Jaclyn KnappWRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio—When choosing a graduate school, National Air and Space Intelli-gence Center civilian employee Justin Becker chose the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) so he could continue working while attending school part-time.
“AFIT has and will continue helping me with my work, which is what I was looking for when furthering my edu-cation,” said Becker, a master’s of science astronautical engineering student.
In regards to his overall experience at AFIT, Becker has made many friends and never met professors “so willing to help.” He enjoys the smaller class sizes since they fa-cilitate a more personable learning experience for asking questions and getting to know peers.
“I have had a great experience and would suggest other students attend. AFIT is a place that encourages group learning, communication, and working together,” said Becker.
Civilians in the Department of Defense interested in at-tending AFIT can apply to the Civilian Development Edu-cation program. CDE provides education and leadership opportunities that will prepare Air Force civilians to suc-cessfully meet challenges across the wide range of opera-tions and missions.
For program requirements, eligibility, and current informa-tion, visit the Civilian Force Development page on myPers. Select “Civilian Employee” from the myPers drop-down menu and search for “developmental education.”
“Finding solutions to the growing challenges facing opera-tions in the Space Domain requires the participation of both our military and civilian personnel,” said Maj. Robert Bettinger, deputy director, AFIT’s Center for Space Re-search and Assurance (CSRA).
“AFIT offers a unique and unparalleled environment in which students are immersed in cutting-edge space tech-nology development, science, and space experiments,” said Bettinger.
AFIT, located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the Air Force’s graduate school of engineering and management
Air Force Institute of Technology offers classes not just to military members, but also civilians working with the Department of Defense through the Civilian Development Education program. U.S. Air Force photo by Wesley Farnsworth
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 5
as well as its institution for technical professional continu-ing education.
AFIT is committed to providing defense-focused gradu-ate and professional continuing education and research to sustain the technological supremacy of America’s air, space, and cyber forces.
For additional information about graduate or post-doctoral degrees in astronautical engineering or space systems, visit the CSRA website at https://www.afit.edu/CSRA/, call 937-255-6565, extension 4753, or e-mail [email protected].
Space Force Making Measured Efforts in Absorbing New Personnel DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NEWS (FEB. 7, 2020)C. Todd LopezAs it stands now, the new U.S. Space Force has one mem-ber—its commander, Space Force Gen. John W. Raymond. But there will be more—enlisted, commissioned officers, and civilian members will be part of the new force before the end of the year.
Those who are currently assigned to, but aren’t members of the Space Force, say bringing aboard new personnel will take some time to get right.
“The commissioning and enlistment and appointment of officers and enlisted members of a military service—much of that is controlled by law, statute, and Congress,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson, vice commander of U.S. Space Force, during a Feb. 5 discussion at the Pentagon. “That’s the first part. We need to go through a process with Congress to have them authorize, provide authorization for specific names and specific individuals to transfer into that Service. And we are working with Congress on that right now, and that will take a little bit of time.”
Thompson also said that, similar to the other military ser-vices, those who commission or enlist have expectations regarding benefits, pay, and other things. Those details haven’t yet been worked out for the Space Force, he said, but they have to be in place before new members can come aboard.
“The last thing we want to have happen as we go through this process with excitement and enthusiasm and people are happy, ... but then they don’t get paid.”
Air Force Maj. Gen. Clint E. Crosier, director of the U.S. Space Force planning office, explained in more detail the
significance of transferring from an existing Service into the new Service.
“We want to be very deliberate about the transfer pro-cess,” Crosier said. “The transfer piece involves raising your right hand—because, literally, our enlisted members are terminating their enlistment in the U.S. Air Force or Army or Navy and enlisting in the Space Force. And our officers are resigning their commissions. That’s a very for-mal process.”
Changes regarding financial management, personnel sys-tems, and even the Uniform Code of Military Justice will all need to be addressed before new members can come aboard, he said, so that when people formally leave their prior service and come into the Space Force, everything is ready for them and it’s a smooth transition.
Eventually, the Space Force will recruit new members di-rectly from the civilian world. But initially, Crosier said, Space Force will fill its ranks with personnel who transfer in from the Air Force, the Army, or the Navy. That mix of cul-tures will mean the new Service will need a plan to ensure that personnel coming in are treated equally, he noted.
“You can imagine then—fast forward to a time in the future where I hold my first promotion board and I have ex-naval officers and ex-Army officers and ex-Air Force officers all meeting a common promotion board and ensuring I have fair and equitable way to run that board so that everybody has a fair chance of getting promoted,” Crosier said.
Air Force personnel will be the first to transfer into the Space Force in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Thompson said all of the Air Force’s space operations capabilities will transfer into the Space Force. Ultimately, officers and en-listed personnel currently involved in things such as space operations, space intelligence, space acquisition, space engineering, space communications, and space cyber may transfer into the Space Force.
After that, Crosier said, the new Service will do the plan-ning to account for the different cultures, different promo-tions processes, and different training processes that in-coming personnel from the other Services are familiar with.
“So that when we are ready to ask Army and Navy folks to raise their right hand and transfer, that we have got all those pieces in place,” Crosier said.
One thing unknown now, Thompson said, is what members of the Space Force will be called. Already, the U.S. military
Career Development
6 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
has soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. But Space Force has yet to decide what it will call its own personnel.
“We are taking steps to broaden our aperture and bring in a larger set of groups,” Thompson said. The Space Force is looking to Defense Language Institute, the language de-partment at the Air Force Academy, and other English and language centers, as well as to its own people, to come up with the best possible suggestions for names, he added.
The Service has “a couple of really strong options on what we might be called, and some pretty strong opinions,” Thompson said. “But what we would like to do is ensure we’ve thought as broadly as we can, gotten the opinions of the people who matter ... and considered as best as we can what that ought to be, before we land on an answer.”
Hanscom Seeks Engineers, Scientists, Program Managers for Hire 66TH AIR BASE GROUP PUBLIC AFFAIRS (FEB. 10, 2020)Lauren Russell HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass.—Hanscom’s top of-ficials are looking for more than 45 computer scientists, engineers, and program managers to help develop and field the latest weapon system technology.
Candidates can expect to work on tomorrow’s most ad-vanced radars, communication and intelligence systems, command and operation centers, network infrastructure, and cyber defense systems, all while providing combat airpower to America’s Airmen.
“The Air Force is always looking for talented engineers and scientists to support our program offices,” said Ed Lee, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom chief of engineering resources. “This is a unique opportunity to support the country and have a real-world impact to the success of the warfighter.”
Against the blackness of space and Earth’s horizon, the International Space Station moves away from Space Shuttle Discovery, Dec. 19, 2006. NASA photo
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 7
To qualify for consideration, applicants must have a com-puter science or engineering degree, preferably electrical. Positions are open for entry-level through senior and su-pervisory engineers. “We have a large demand for those specialties and will look closely at anyone who brings us the right skillsets,” he said.
To ensure the weapons systems are up to par, the 96th Cyberspace Test Group, Detachment 1, is searching for computer scientists and test engineers to support test activities across the base, which often means taking sys-tems to military ranges and using them in the air or ground side-by-side with other military capabilities. “Testing is where the rubber first meets the road for most acquisi-tion programs,” said Lt. Col. Josef Peterson, 96 CTG, Det. 1 commander. “It can provide some of the most exciting hands-on interaction with the Air Force’s latest systems.”
In addition to the engineer and test and evaluation special-ists, there are more than 30 vacancies for program man-agers available on the installation. Program managers are typically team leaders and coordinators, and work closely with personnel from other specialties, such as engineers, financial managers, or contracting officers to acquire sys-tems and execute Air Force missions around the globe.
“The opportunities for personal and professional growth here are abundant,” said Mike Giger, workforce manage-ment and development chief for the Program Management Functional Support and Management Division. “Plus, it’s very satisfying to work with teams focused on supporting national defense.”
Lee said he knows his team is competing for engineers in a highly competitive market in a high cost-of-living area. However, those seeking employment at Hanscom can take advantage of post-college development and intern pro-grams that offer young engineers rapid promotion through federal ranks coupled with training and student loan repay-ment options.
Those interested in supporting the critical mission of pro-viding advanced weapon systems to the warfighter and maintaining air superiority in defense of the U.S. and its allies can contact Lee directly at [email protected].
New Acquisition Course Builds Value in First Year AIR FORCE LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT CENTER PUBLIC AFFAIRS (FEB. 12, 2020)Brian Brackens WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio—The Ac-quisition Instructor Course (AQIC) has moved to the next
phase of its development after the first cohort of acquisi-tion officers finished their research and laid the ground-work for the development of AQIC.
Sponsored by Air Force Materiel Command, AQIC was established in 2019 to improve collaboration and under-standing between the acquisition and operational com-munities, and to provide advanced training to acquisition officers.
“Training that is available to acquirers right now is mostly academic and theory-based, and we like to make the distinction and call it education vice training,” said Capt. Corey Wiechmann, director of Operations for AQIC, as he explained the difference between AQIC and other ac-quisition training programs. “Currently you are taught the overarching processes to develop and acquire capabilities but are not always learning the specifics of your day-to-day job. With AQIC, students will receive in-depth training and knowledge in multiple functional areas like contracting, fi-nance, logistics, etc. They will also learn about the weapon systems they support from the individuals who operate them. Once they graduate, they will have the responsibil-ity to go back and instruct their peers on the things they learned.”
During the course, students had the opportunity to audit the U.S. Air Force Weapons School’s Core I and Core II academic blocks, where they observed academics given to all Weapons Instructor Course students specializing in just about every weapons system in the Air Force fleet.
In addition, they observed the Weapons School Integration phase or WSINT, a series of large-scale training sorties where Weapons School students are put to the test on how to integrate and operate amongst each other.
“The last cohort gained some extremely valuable expe-rience and knowledge through their interaction with the students in the 19 Bravo [Weapons School] class,” said Col. Steve Smith, commandant of AQIC. “They were able to interact with them and see their operations first-hand. They were able to see the mission briefings, mission plan-ning, and mission debriefing and even had the opportunity to go out and fly along during one of the larger sorties towards the end of the WSINT period.”
Wiechmann added that being able to observe the Weap-ons School students was a great experience, because it al-lowed the acquisition officers to get a better understanding of the systems they support and identify areas they can help improve capabilities.
Career Development
8 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
The knowledge gained from the Weapons School experi-ence is being used to further develop the AQIC curriculum.
“While we are not a member of the Air Force Weapons School, we are using their methodology to develop this course and infuse the community with advanced trained [acquisition] officers that will provide instruction and training to other acquisition professionals,” said Smith. “We will also use what we learn to identify and address capability gaps and areas of concern for the operational community.”
The AQIC beta course (20 Bravo) call for nominations is currently open. Eligible applicants should have received a myPers notification with application requirements and in-structions. The 20 Bravo course will start on July 6, 2020.
User Feedback to Improve Assignment System Before Next CycleARMY NEWS SERVICE (FEB. 13, 2020)Devon L. Suits WASHINGTON—Improvements to the Assignment In-teractive Module known as AIM 2.0 will ensure an even better user experience before the next assign-ment cycle, leaders said Thursday.
“The Assignment In-teractive Module 2.0 is the automated process that allows us to exe-cute ATAP [Army Talent Alignment Process],” Calloway said. ATAP provides the rules and guidelines “that drive the process … for how we execute the [assign-ment] markets.”
“It is an incredibly ex-citing time to be in the Army,” said Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands , deputy chief of staff, G-1. “The leadership we have is aligned to make the Army as best as it can be.”
The Army People Strat-
egy, which includes the Army’s talent alignment efforts, provides an opportunity to resource and embed programs to “attract, acquire, develop, employ, and retain” Soldiers, families, and civilians, said Seamands during a media roundtable at the Pentagon.
The Army Talent Alignment Process, or ATAP’s regulated, market-style assignment system, AIM 2.0 for officers, is scheduled to open again in March, said Maj. Gen. Joseph Calloway, commander of Army Human Resources Com-mand.
Close to 4,500 officers will go through the process of selecting their next assignment before their permanent change of station at the end of 2020 and into 2021.
System latency was just one of the core issues identified by users, Calloway said. The sheer volume of users—ap-proximately 15,000 officers—on the system attributed to ATAP’s slower performance. Officials are looking for ways to improve the system.
In addition to latency, officers and units requested ad-
Maj. Andrew Travis, right, Battle Management directorate weather division staff meteorologist, speaks with Ted Papadopoulos, a foreign military sales chief engineer and Janna Miller, an FMS lead engineer at the Weather Engineering Facility ribbon cutting ceremony, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., in September 2018. U.S. Air Force photo by Todd Maki
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 9
ditional filtering options to refine details on officers and positions in the market.
For example, Calloway said, captains are not qualified for an observer-controller assignment at the National Train-ing Center on Fort Irwin, California, if they have not yet completed their required key developmental assignment—usually company command—that provides the necessary underlying experience.
With AIM 2.0’s new filtering options, officers will find it easier to sift through the assignment marketplace, or even filter out assignments that don’t match their qualifications, Calloway said. “On the other side, you are the commander, and ... you’re trying to find the right person [for] your for-mation,” he said. “What we’re going to do is make the tool more user friendly—on both sides.”
Behind the scenes, officials are working to incorporate more data parameters into the AIM 2.0 program to shore up an assignment-mismatch issue.
During the recent market cycle using AIM 2.0, officials identified a minor error with the automated tool used dur-ing the assignment matching process. The tool did not have “perfect information” and inadvertently assigned of-ficers to jobs for which they were not qualified, Calloway explained. Officials are working to insert additional logic into the automated process to prevent the issue from re-occurring.
“Assignment officers on the back end corrected the prob-lem. We would be putting the officer and the unit in an untenable position,” Calloway added, if it wasn’t corrected.
With the new assignment process, close to half of all of-ficers got their first choice during this cycle, said Maj. Gen. J.P. McGee, director of the Army Talent Management Task Force.
To clarify, the term “first choice” is not necessarily tied to an officer’s “dream list” of assignments, McGee explained. The first choice refers to a one-to-one match an officer receives with a unit during the assignment process.
“What we see in places that are traditionally hard to fill … they are getting good results,” McGee said. “Commanders are embracing this authority and using it as an opportu-nity to express their preference for [a specific] officer. So, preferences go both ways. Officers like being preferred by a unit.”
HRC also ran a post-market analysis to ensure there were no “anomalies” within the talent alignment process, Cal-loway said. Officials were looking for an unequal distribu-tion of Soldiers based on their performance, diversity, or gender.
“They ran a pretty thorough analysis, and we were … posi-tively surprised,” he said. “The spread of both performance and talent and diversity stayed consistent with the histori-cal norm.”
Overall, units and officers that found success with ATAP were active on the system, McGee said. In the coming months, HRC will start releasing orders, which will include a satisfaction survey to help gather more information about each Soldier’s assignment experience.
ATAP is meant to be additive, not a distraction, Seamands said.
“The last thing I want to do is create a system where ev-erybody is walking around with their phone all day long, checking to see how they are doing in the market. Or a unit is spending all their time [on ATAP] instead of at the range,” Seamands said.
Familiarity with the system, coupled with constant user feedback, will continue to improve the program, he added.
“It is critical that we have the right talent management systems to optimize the Army’s talent. We need to make sure that everybody can be the best version of themselves, and fit in with a unit to help build readiness across our force,” he said.
2020 to be Pivotal Year in Maintenance, Logistics Training Transformation82ND TRAINING WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS (FEB. 19, 2020)George Woodward SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas—As the Air Force continues to evolve to meet the challenges of a constantly evolving global security environment, the 82nd Training Wing is working to transform maintenance and logistics technical training to deliver the Airmen who will form the heart of the future force.
“We are one wing in a big Air Force,” said Col. Kenyon Bell, 82nd Training Wing commander, “but because of our role and the scope and scale of our training mission, we have an enormous role in shaping the future force.”
About 44% of the Air Force’s technical training is accom-
Career Development
10 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
plished at the 82nd Training Wing, Bell said, which includes logistics and most engineering career fields.
“That includes logistics readiness; aircraft, munitions and missile maintenance; and civil engineering,” he said. “We have a significant role in training all of those disciplines, either entirely within the 82nd or in concert with our joint partners and also our sister wings in Second Air Force. That means we have a huge challenge and a huge opportunity to transform technical training, and specifically maintenance and logistics training, to meet the strategic demands of a 21st century force.”
The 82nd delivers more than 65,000 graduates annually in more than 900 maintenance, logistics, civil engineering, and some cyber and missile maintenance courses. These courses cover not only initial skills training, but advanced and specialty courses delivered at 60 locations around the globe.
“We’ve been doing technical training in the Air Force for a long time, and doing it very well. Here at Sheppard [AFB], it’s been part of our DNA since the base opened in 1941. The Greatest Generation gave us an incredible gift when they laid the foundations of the training enterprise that, more or less, we still use,” Bell said.
“But we now find ourselves in a situation very similar to the one they faced. They had to build the training foundations for a viable force, accounting for rapidly changing technol-ogy and a very challenging global threat on the horizon. They did an incredible job—they made such an intellectual leap that we’ve used their basic model for seven decades.
“Now it’s our turn. As an Air Force, we are in the midst of incredible technological changes happening at [lightning] speed, as well as our own challenging threat picture. The evolutionary, incremental changes we’ve made over the years to the training process are no longer enough—we
Students at the 366th Training Squadron electrical systems apprentice course perform a crossarm change-out at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, May 28, 2019. Changing out the crossarm is important as they get damaged due to weather or rot that can deform the bar. The poles will likely be used and trained on by multiple classes, and students are also in charge of maintaining and replacing poles that are too worn out. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Pedro Tenorio
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 11
need to make revolutionary changes. We need to make the same kind of evolutionary leap our forebears made.”
Bell said the wing, Second Air Force, and AETC have been laying the foundations for this transformation for several years.
“There has been a lot of experimentation and innovation going on, especially since 2016,” he said. “It’s been incred-ibly important in helping us understand what works and what doesn’t. Now it’s time to start putting those lessons in play.”
Among those experiments are efforts like the Enhanced Training Day, launched at Sheppard AFB in 2016. That ef-fort explored ways to incorporate force development and foundational competencies—Airmanship—into the techni-cal training environment.
Along with similar efforts at other technical training wings, the experiment helped inform Second Air Force’s Airman-ship 200 program, which will formally integrate core Air-manship and force-development concepts into technical training beginning this year.
Another effort more specific to the maintenance and lo-gistics world is Maintenance Next. Activated in January 2019 at Joint Base San Antonio’s Kelly Field, its goal is to explore ways to leverage advanced technologies to train aircraft maintainers—specifically crew chiefs—more ef-ficiently and effectively.
“Technology is changing the way we live and learn and it has opened up many opportunities to improve training to meet the needs of today’s Airman,” said Lt. Col. Sean Goode, Maintenance Next detachment commander.
Currently, the Maintenance Next team is working with students who recently graduated basic military training. These students are able to explore through learning labs any time of the day or night in their dormitory or work center. The labs feature a variety of learning devices to include augmented and virtual-reality simulators.
“Offering 24/7 access to education and diverse tools helps our team understand which tools best suit the learning needs of our Airmen,” Goode said. “We are also examining those tools to determine if they are successful at building maintainer competencies through hands-on evaluations.”
Beginning this spring, Maintenance Next will be field tested at Sheppard AFB, Bell said.
“Sean [Goode] has done an incredible job looking at how these emerging technologies can enhance training,” Bell said. “The next step is to test them in the formal training environment. If we get the results we expect, then we’ll focus on the next big challenge—how to implement across other maintenance specialties and then sustain it.”
While transforming maintenance and logistics training is a strategic imperative, Bell said it’s important to be realistic.“We have to have a bias for action and move forward,” he said. “But we also have to understand that maintenance and logistics training is a huge enterprise with a long his-tory and lots of moving parts. It’s not just about what happens in the classroom—it’s about the whole process: how we define training requirements and resource them; the processes for staffing instructors and military training leaders; making curriculum development more iterative and responsive to the field.”
This maintenance training transformation effort is a large job and will require coordination and cooperation across the enterprise: from the staff sergeant instructor at the podium all the way up to Air Education and Training Com-mand Commander Lt. Gen. Brad Webb; and Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection Lt. Gen. Warren Berry.
A part of the job that often gets overlooked, he said, is communication.
“Vision 2020 is our effort to make sure our stakeholders know what we’re trying to do and why—and also to get their input, support, and buy-in,” Bell said. “It’s going to take all of us working together to make this happen.”
Vision 2020 will be anchored by a series of videos featur-ing different aspects of the transformation effort, along with articles and other products, released throughout the year.
For more information, visit http://www.sheppard.af.mil/Vision-2020.
Changes to Promotion Process Provide Officers More Career FlexibilityARMY NEWS SERVICE (FEB. 20, 2020)Devon L. Suits FORT MEADE, Md.—The Army has initiated changes to its promotion process, allowing qualified officers a chance to “opt-in” for early promotion consideration, Army Talent Management Task Force leaders said Thursday.
Career Development
12 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
“This new initiative is aligned with the Army People Strat-egy and implements a change in the way we manage talent through the promotion process,” said Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Edwards, director of the Officer Personnel Management Directorate with Army Human Resources Command.
With the upcoming Fiscal Year 2020 promotion selection board, officers that are eligible for early promotion must now submit a formal request through the Assignment In-teractive Module, or AIM 2.0, said Col. Mark Susnis, a team chief with the task force.
“Previously, ‘below the zone’ consideration was a very in-dustrial process,” said Maj. Lucas Rand, assigned to the task force. “If you were in the year group before the pri-mary zone—no matter how strong your file was or whether you had completed your key development assignments—you were automatically considered for below the zone consideration … whether you wanted it or not.”
Now captains that made rank between Oct. 6, 2015, and July 8, 2017, must meet the list of eligibility criteria before submitting their re-quest. These requirements include:• Soldiers must have com-
pleted their Captains’ Ca-reer Course.
• Basic branch officers must complete their key developmental positions by March 16, 2020, per Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-3.
• Functional area officers need to have 24 or more months within their func-tional area. Captains also need 12 or more officer evaluation report-rated months within the same area by March 16, 2020.
“Historically, the Army re-lied on a time-based promo-tion system to provide the ready force required for ser-vice to the nation,” Edwards said. “By allowing officers to request early consideration,
or to ‘opt-in’ to a promotion board, we create an oppor-tunity to recognize individuals of exceptional talent who demonstrate the potential to perform at a higher grade earlier in their career.”
With the new opt-in program, the Army can potentially align an officer’s knowledge, skills, and behaviors to meet the force’s mission requirements at higher grades, Susnis added.
Failure to be selected for promotion during the opt-in pro-cess will not negatively impact a Soldier’s career, Susnis said. All officers receive at least two considerations in and above the primary promotion zone before initiating a po-tential involuntary separation action.
Opt-Out of PromotionQualified captains that want to complete a career-broad-ening assignment, or pursue an advanced educational or key-developmental opportunity—in the best interest of
Maj. Tatchie Manso, 1st Theater Sustainment Command, smiles as Elena, Manso’s wife, pins on his new rank during a ceremony at Fort Knox, Ky., Dec. 11, 2019. The Army recently initiated changes to its promotion process, allowing qualified officers a chance to “opt-in” for early promo-tion consideration. Qualified captains can also opt-out of promotion to pursue career-broadening assignments, or other advanced educational or key developmental opportunities—in the best interest of the Army. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Zoran Raduka
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 13
the Army—can now request to temporarily defer their consideration for promotion for up to two years, Rand said.
For the upcoming Fiscal Year 2020 major’s promotion se-lection board, eligible captains within the “primary zone” of promotion consideration have until March 9 to submit their deferment request through the Assignment Interac-tive Module 2.0.
“An officer might want to opt out because they are in a position to get an advanced degree,” Rand said. “What we don’t want to do is penalize the officer for branching off of their traditional career path.”
While a small percentage of captains will choose to opt out of promotion this upcoming cycle, Soldiers that are looking to take a year off to increase their competitive standing against their peers will not receive an option to defer if they previously failed to be selected for promotion, Susnis said.
Changes to the Army’s policies and procedures now pro-vide officers with “more opportunity and more flexibility to expand and broaden their careers,” Rand said.
The program focuses on Soldiers that are “trying to accel-erate their timeline because they feel that they are ready,”
Engineers prepare an unmanned jet-powered aircraft for a flight test at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., July 25, 2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Giancarlo Casem
Rand added. “Everybody is different. It comes down to giving a little bit of control to the officer to manage their career.”
More Young People Need to Pursue the ‘Magic of Engineering’ DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NEWS (FEB. 20, 2020)C. Todd LopezThe Defense Department’s chief technology officer said more must be done to encourage young people to pursue engineering careers.
“One of our critical tasks is how to induce more young people into the magic of engineering, as opposed to being a Hollywood star, an NBA basketball player, [or] a denizen of Wall Street,” Michael D. Griffin, the undersecretary of defense for Research and Engineering, said during a Na-tional Engineers Week event yesterday at the Pentagon.
“When I am asked to talk to younger folks about just this, I often say—and I will pass it along to you—that my favorite quote about what it means to be an engineer comes from Theodore von Kármán, one of the great engineers of his-tory. Von Kármán said about engineering, versus science in particular, ‘Scientists study the world that is. Engineers create the world that has never been.’”
Career Development
14 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
Engineering, Griffin said, is every bit as creative a pursuit as art, music, literature, or poetry. “Our tools are just dif-ferent,” he said. “Our tools are the tools of physical law and mathematics, but also of human ingenuity and creativity.”
For example, Griffin said, if a young woman aspires to cre-ativity, she is as apt to accomplish that within engineering as in any other field.
“That applies to any of us,” he said. “I would offer that as something to pass along to the next generation. A new engineering creation is something that has never existed before in the history of the universe. ... It’s an awesome thought when you realize as an engineer you can divine an idea, bring it to practice, something that has never existed before in the history of the universe.”
Griffin is responsible for the research, development, and prototyping activities across the Defense Department en-terprise. Among other things, he ensures technological superiority for the Department and oversees the activities of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Innovation Unit, and the DoD Laboratory enterprise.
Mid-Atlantic Engineering Command Graduates ApprenticesNAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND MID-ATLANTIC PUBLIC AFFAIRS (FEB. 24, 2020) Ashley Barham NORFOLK, Va. (NNS)—Naval Facilities Engineering Com-mand (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic conducted a graduation ceremony Feb. 12, onboard Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, for 10 students who successfully completed four years of training in the command’s apprenticeship program.
The command currently has 60 apprentices in the pro-gram and has graduated more than 150 since 2006. The U.S. Department of Labor registered program combines on-the-job training (OJT) with apprentice mentoring, and related instruction.
“Congratulations to our new graduates,” said NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Executive Officer Capt. William Siemer. “This is a huge, huge accomplishment and a significant mile-stone in your career. For every one of you, I know this is just the beginning. I encourage you to keep plugging away, keep pressing, keep charging, and you’ll get to wherever it is that you want to get to.”
During the four-year program, apprentices work full-time to achieve a total of 8,000 hours of OJT, while going to
school to achieve an associate degree or certificate in their assigned trade. “Our graduates are now contributing to the workforce repairing and conducting maintenance for our customers across the mid-Atlantic area of responsi-bility,” said Thomas Harrington, apprenticeship program administrator.
Apprentices are trained in one of nine of the following trades: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) mechanic; electrician; high voltage electrician; plumber; pipefitter; boiler plant mechanic; industrial equipment control mechanic; heavy mobile equipment mechanic; and auto mechanic.
One of this year’s students is Public Works Business Line (PWBL) Core, Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic Desiyea Gorham, who graduated the program summa cum laude.
“I think it’s a great program that puts you on the fast track from entry level to journeyman in four years, with increas-ing pay and good benefits,” said Gorham, a Portsmouth, Virginia native. “I am now licensed and certified to repair and operate equipment and vehicles that were once for-eign to me.”
Along with Gorham, nine other apprentices graduated the program and successfully moved on to become journey-man tradesmen and women. They are Gregory Garrison, an electrician at JEB Little Creek/Fort Story, summa cum laude; Paul Kercheval, a heavy mobile equipment mechanic at PWBL Core Crane Shop, summa cum laude; Benjamen Owen, a heavy mobile equipment mechanic at PWBL Core Crane Shop, magna cum laude; Alexander Hutton, a heavy mobile equipment mechanic at Public Works Department (PWD) Yorktown, cum laude; George Rasberry, a plumber at PWD Yorktown, cum laude; Derrick Jones, an HVAC mechanic at PWD Yorktown; Kayla Barnes, a high voltage electrician at PWD Norfolk; Norman Love, an electrician at PWD Philadelphia; and Timothy Fantini, a plumber at PWD Philadelphia.
Harrington said that the apprenticeship program is impor-tant to the command because it helps to reduce the impact of attrition in the workforce and helps improve the talent and skills of the tradesmen and women.
When asked if she had any advice for current and future apprentices, Gorham said they should work smart, study hard, and use all of the resources offered to them. “Listen and be teachable, both in class and on the job. Ask ques-tions until you understand and practice safety at all times,” she added.
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 15
NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic provides facilities engineering, pub-lic works and environmental products and services across an area of responsibility that spans from Georgia to Maine and as far west as Indiana. As an integral member of the Commander Navy Region Mid-Atlantic team, NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic provides leadership through the Regional Engineer organization to ensure the region’s facilities and infrastructure are managed efficiently and effectively. For more news from Naval Facilities Engineering Com-mand, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/navfachq/.
Army Leaders Expand ‘War For Talent’ InitiativesARMY NEWS SERVICE (FEB. 28, 2020)Thomas BradingALEXANDRIA, Va.—Army leaders issued a call-to-arms Feb. 24 for stakeholders to build on talent management initiatives to enable more improvements to how the force recruits, retains, and forges ahead into the information age.
“We’re building talent management initiatives on aggres-sive timelines,” said Maj. Gen. Joseph P. McGee, the Army Talent Management Task Force director, as he opened a talent management planning conference in Arlington, Vir-ginia, lasting all week.
Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. James C. McConville wants to execute initiatives, “scale them rapidly, and apply them to the rest of the Army,” McGee told the group.
Over the last year, the Army established the Talent Man-agement Task Force to tailor how the Army acquires, main-tains, develops, manages, and employs talent around the force.
Since then, the task force has aligned their priorities with the top general’s most pressing concern: people first.
Shortly after the outset of the talent management push, leaders made an initial pitch to stakeholders for help. Their input went on to fuel multiple new initiatives. Now, nearly a year later, leaders are reaching out to stakeholders again to ask, “How do we expand on these initiatives?”
“At this time last year, [the task force] was roughly 14 people,” McGee said. Today, the task force has scaled up to 84 personnel.
The forum, according to McGee, is a way to determine a path forward for the next few years, and shape the Army into a premier organization for human development and performance.
To do this, McGee tasked the crowd—made up of civilian part-ners and unit leaders from across the Army—to spend the weeklong talent management forum joining together and developing concrete plans to expand on the strides the Army has already taken to manage its people.
This work will be the most pivotal step the Army has taken since its transition from the draft to an all-volunteer force in 1972, E. Casey Wardynski, assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Re-serve Affairs, said to the group. “The work you’re going to do will sustain [the Army] for years to come.”
By the end of the forum, Army leaders plan to have selected ideas on McConville’s desk for im-plementation within two months,
The war for securing the best talent helps the Army set the conditions to win a war against adversaries the United States has never faced, Maj. Gen Joseph P. McGee said.U.S. Army photo
Career Development
16 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
McGee said, adding that “data and facts move quicker than opinions.”
Winning the War for TalentEvery year, roughly 5,000 new officers commission into the Army, McGee said, and it is an Army leader’s respon-sibility to “find out what their talents, unique skills, be-haviors, and preferences are and use them to chart their development.”
To achieve this, the Army has offered several commission-ing choices for young officers to make the most of their talents.
Last year, direct commissioning was extended to qualified cyber warriors in an effort to fill one of the Army’s most emerging fields. Before this, the program was reserved mostly for qualified professionals in the medical, legal, and religious fields.
“Without this program, we strip ourselves of some of the most talented people in our country who are willing to serve as officers within our Army, and make us better,” McGee said.
Last fall, 1,089 cadets from the class of 2020 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point picked assignments to one of 17 Army branches. Of them, more than 80% were placed in their preferred career—an 11% increase from 2018.
Army officials hope similar programs will kick off soon in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs at colleges across the country.
Officers in every Army branch are also now allowed to sit out of a promotion cycle to have more career flexibility, McGee said.
Although passing on a promotion may be few and far be-tween, McGee admitted, “the idea is if you are in a job you enjoy, you should have a say and the Army shouldn’t force you to do something.”
On the other hand, rapid promotions were approved by Congress in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, he said, with up to 770 authorizations.
“If you’re a lieutenant colonel, and you think you’re quali-fied for a job that’s available for a rapid promotion to colo-nel, then you can compete for the job,” McGee said.
Once selected, officers assume the rank and pay until they leave the position. Of those, 225 were listed in the Army Talent Alignment Process, and 118 became available in the last assignment cycle.
However, one of biggest changes to talent management came from the first ATAP marketplace, McGee said.
Earlier this year, more than 6,500 officers were assigned their first job of choice during a match process, McGee said. In all, more than 14,500 officers participated and of those, 95% were assigned one of their preferences and 98% of units placed preferences into one of their vacan-cies.
The foundation of ATAP was born on the idea of trust, Wardynski said. “Before, units trusted the Army to know best about what they need, and when they need it.”
“We were advised to go more slowly, or do 2,000-3,000 officers so we can learn and access,” McGee admitted, regarding the ATAP marketplace. “But the fact of the mat-ter is [McConville] knew if we waited, we would not get a marginal gain in terms of how we operate.”
In other words, if Army leaders waited to study how a small group adapted to their move, they would “end up dealing with the same issues,” he said.
The Army isn’t modernizing how it does business to “feel good about itself,” McGee said. “It’s so we can win future wars.”
PEO for Mobility and Training Aircraft Shares Perspective on Life and Career AIR FORCE LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT CENTER PUBLIC AFFAIRS (MARCH 2, 2020)Brian Brackens WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio—When Lynda Rutledge began her Air Force career in 1989 as a mathematician at Eglin Air Force Base, her goal was to work for a couple of years and leave for the private sector.
However, she soon fell in love with the challenge and im-pact of her work, and 30 years later she’s still serving the Air Force.
In her current role as the Program Executive Officer for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, Rutledge is responsible for acquiring, updating, modernizing, and sustaining the Air Force’s mobility and training aircraft fleet, to include the
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 17
C-5, C-17, C-130, T-38, T-6, T-7A, E-9, and U.S. Air Force Academy training aircraft.
A seasoned acquisition leader, she is the recipient of the 2019 Presidential Rank Award in the Meritorious Execu-tive category.
During a recent interview, Rutledge shared her perspective on a variety of topics. Q: Congratulations on receiving the 2019 Presidential Rank Award. How does it feel to receive it?
Rutledge: Thank you. It was a nice surprise and I’m very honored. However, when I read the things I was recognized for, my first thought was that I hadn’t done much of the work. My teams did it all, so I give them the credit. My job is just to support them, and try to give them what they need to meet their mission.
Q: You have a very interesting background, I was looking at your bio and it says you’re a mathematician. Why did you start working for the Air Force?
Rutledge: After college, I moved down to South America and lived in Colombia for two years. Afterwards I came back home to the Fort Walton Beach area and enrolled in the University of Florida for a master’s degree in Systems Engineering.
One of the guys in the engineering program mentioned that Eglin Air Force Base was hiring, and even though I originally wanted to get my degree and leave the city, I reluctantly applied and was hired as a computer scientist, where I did data analysis and wrote software that sup-ported the test missions on base.
My first program office experience was with the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) Program Office [at Eglin] where I was part of the team that got JASSM awarded and off and running.
After we had JASSM awarded, there was a program com-ing out of the Air Force Research Laboratory called Small Smart Bomb. I was asked to be the program manager to transition it from the lab.
Q: Did you know then that you wanted to be a Program Execu-tive Officer (PEO)?
Rutledge: I did. I saw what the PEO did, what their job was, and that they got to interface with all of the programs.
At that point I was six years out of college. I had six years under my belt where I was exposed to program office PEO structure. I just thought being a PEO would be fun, and it is, I was right.
Q: If you were sitting down to mentor a young em-ployee, what would you say?
Rutledge: It depends. It depends on what they want. What I tell them is “Don’t always worry about the next step. Pick a really good job and enjoy what you are doing and appreciate what you are doing today—and just do your best at it and the rest will take care of itself.”
Q: Throughout your career starting out as a young ac-quisition person, did you take any risk?
Rutledge: So I told you I really didn’t want to come work for the government. My parents were both civil servants, and I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to do something different. I wanted to move to the
Lynda Rutledge, the Program Executive Officer for the Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, shared her perspective on life and career.U.S. Army photo
Career Development
18 | May-June 2020 | DEFENSEACQUISITION
big city, and work for General Mills or some big company. I always thought I was only going to stay [at Eglin] three years, and after three years I was only going to stay an-other three years. I kept getting challenged, and I was doing what excited me. I also had leaders that gave me rope and a lot of liberty and freedom.
Q: Did you take risks?
Rutledge: Yeah, I took risks along the way. As a matter of fact, I took more risks when I was younger than when I was older, because I didn’t have as much invested, and I didn’t have the hindrance of experience. I was mostly going off my common sense and ideas.
Q: Did you ever fail?
Rutledge: Sure. First source selection I did was on JASSM [Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile]. A protest was filed and it wasn’t necessarily in my area, but when they went and looked at the data, they found something I did in my area that deviated from the plan. So it’s my first program office, first time I had ever done a source selection, and I’m sitting in what is almost like a courtroom during the protest and I was petrified that because of me, we might have undone the whole thing. I was horrified.
I will never forget my senior leader, who would be the equivalent of a senior program manager, telling me the protest was good for me to experience and that it would make me so much better. And he was right. Taking that risk and failing made me a lot better program manager. I survived, and the program survived, so I knew taking risks were okay and necessary.
Later he came up and said, “One of your virtues is that you are willing to take risks. That’s a strength you have. I don’t want this [protest] to cause you to lose that and be afraid to take risks again. You did the right thing. We had an objective to get through, and you did what you thought you needed to do to meet that objective. It didn’t work out exactly how you thought, and that’s okay. We’ll get through it.”
Q: What’s your favorite book?
Rutledge: The Cider House Rules by John Irving. A character in the book was asked, “What do you want out of life,” and he said, “I just want to be of use.” As soon as I read that, I go “That’s me—that’s what motivates me!” If I feel I’ve been of use and done something that’s useful to some-body, that’s all I need. I’m not happy or satisfied if I feel
like I’m not being of use.
Q: What do you like most about your job?Rutledge: I really like working with my teams, whether it is solving a problem, trying to get a program issue worked, reviewing the programs, and setting up acquisition strat-egies. There’s no doubt and I don’t make it any secret, my favorite, favorite, thing to do is to set up acquisition strategies. I love working with the teams to do that. And I also love source selections. But it’s always when I get to engage with the teams and working together and solving problems—that’s just my favorite part.
Q: Say you are a young acquisition professional and new to the team, but don’t have a lot of experience. Perhaps you have a really great idea, but the senior person doesn’t want to listen. How do you get heard; how do you get your ideas on the table?
Rutledge: Go to somebody else. That’s why I do like to be in the room with teams, so I can hear other people’s ideas. What I tell junior folks is that I had the best ideas and the best thoughts when I wasn’t tainted by my experience. The things that I asked and I observed just from my com-mon sense and just from the outside are still the smartest things I ever thought of. I’m now tainted by the system, by my experiences.
Q: So you were smarter back in the day?
Rutledge: Yes. I asked good questions, and they were ques-tions that made people go hmm… A lot of times having a fresh set of eyes look at something we all have been doing, maybe the same way for many years, can bring a great aha! moment. I have a lot of our junior workforce asking me those good questions today, and it’s great!
Q: Anything you would like to add?
Rutledge: We have to embrace an environment of change. It is what has and will continue to give us the leading edge.
Air Force Women in Science and Engineering Doubles Membership, Continues GrowthAIR FORCE NEWS SERVICE (MARCH 23, 2020)John Van Winkle WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio—A re-source group for female scientists and engineers is grow-ing across the Air Force Research Laboratory research community.
The Air Force Women in Science and Engineering, or AF-WiSE, is a recently formed resource group that brings
Career Development
DEFENSEACQUISITION | May-June 2020 | 19
together women to promote and foster achievement, ad-vancement, and success within the AFRL research envi-ronment.
“AFWiSE membership grew from 114 members in Octo-ber 2018 to 220 members in January 2020. Membership growth and enterprise-wide involvement has been facili-tated by designating representatives at technical director-ates and headquarters offices,” said Dr. Joy Haley, AFWiSE Chair.
Membership in AFWiSE is open to anyone that supports its mission, i.e., women, men, contractors, and those not in the science and engineering field.
“AFWiSE is an inclusive resource group that strives to make AFRL a preferred workplace for all. We believe that representation matters,” said Haley. “We strive to ensure the voices of women and other underrepresented groups are heard, and that these employees are being fostered and developed towards achievement, advancement, and leadership in their careers. We are passionate about the AFRL mission, and we believe the most effective innovating organization is one that embraces and promotes diversity and inclusivity.”
AFWISE aims to make AFRL not only an inviting place, but a preferred place for women to work. It serves as an AFRL resource to positively influence the working envi-ronment; ensure professional development, advancement, and achievement of women scientists and engineers; and support the organization in establishing and achieving its diversity and innovation goals.
“AFWiSE is an engaging and inclusive resource group that gives employees a forum to gather, network, and share new
ideas for the advancement, professional development, and promotion of workplace diversity throughout AFRL,” said Sarah Wallentine, AFWiSE Past Chair.
AFWiSE hosts a number of events throughout the year, including lunch & learns; guest speaker seminars; panel discussions on topics about diversity and inclusion, pro-fessional development, life balance; and an open forum with AFRL vice commander. The organization also holds a monthly Literature for Women in Science and Engineering (LitWiSE) reading club meeting with facilitated discus-sions, and hosted a career development planning work-shop and an AFWiSE All-Hands workshop that covered topics in leadership, diversity, inclusivity, innovation, men-toring, and networking. AFWiSE members also invested in the next generation of scientists and engineers by serving on the Dayton Regional STEM School career panel for high school students.
AFWiSE will be having a large workforce development workshop “Elevate 2020” in the fall of this year, for em-ployees from all AFRL locations. The workshop is still in development and details will be announced when final.
Membership in AFWiSE is all-inclusive, and not limited to just AFRL. The organization includes members from DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office, Air Force Institute of Technology, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Secretary of the Air Force Acquisition community, and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. It has also drawn interest from other defense and academic entities.
For more information on AFWiSE membership and chap-ters, e-mail Elizabeth Loiacono at [email protected].
