Training with Industry Orientation Preps Officers on their New Roles
as Army Acquisition Corps Ambassadors
Nine officers selected to participate in the Army's Training
with Industry (TWI) program are switching from green suits to
business suits. The Army's TWI program places officers in a corporate
environment for one year — August 2003 to August 2004 —
allowing them to experience the latest technology development processes,
industrial operations and organizational structures and cultures.
MAJ Mike Zrimm, who will spend the next year at Computer Sciences
Corporation (CSC) in Reston, VA, was enthusiastic about his opportunity.
"The TWI program will broaden my exposure to various civilian management
and leadership techniques that I may be able to use in the military,"
he said.
The new TWI officers spent July 28, 2003, at HRC headquarters in
Alexandria, VA, learning what the Army expects from them and what
they can look forward to experiencing. Foremost, officers must realize
they represent the Army to everyone they will meet.
"You're part of our face to our industry partners," said Craig Spisak, Acquisition Support Center (ASC) Deputy Director.
"You will help establish long-term partnerships with those
industries."
Spisak directed the officers to remember they carry a responsibility
to be ambassadors not only to the industries they will work in,
but also to their counterparts in the field when they return. "Everyone
in this room recognizes acquisition's importance to warfighters,
and we need you to do a good job communicating that with warfighters."
Remain professional at all times, advised LTC(P) Peggy Carson, Acquisition
Management Branch (AMB) Chief. Speaking from personal experience,
she related that she had spent a year with a company as a TWI officer
and later returned to become the Defense Contract Management Agency
commander at the same company.
Former TWI officer MAJ Chris Fox gave a personal account of her
year with Tucson Embedded Systems, Inc., in Tucson, AZ. Her accomplishments
there included helping the company prepare for ISO 9002 certification
and researching government requests for proposals (RFPs). It was
then that she discovered, "We aren't the best writers
of proposals — the requirements are too generic. I now have
a better understanding how important a well written RFP is."
An Army TWI program objective is to develop a group of soldiers
experienced in higher-level managerial techniques who understand
industry's relationship to specific Army functions. When TWI
students are integrated into an Army organization, they can use
this information to improve the Army's ability to interact
and conduct business with industry — information an officer
such as MAJ Fox now brings to her acquisition career and the Army.
TWI corporate representatives from NCR, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
and Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems were helpful
in outlining what TWI officers can expect from their companies,
such as learning how the Army's contractors work, think and
approach acquisition.
"We place our TWI officer at a high level in our organization
— the vice president level — and assign them real projects,
show them the books and make them understand how we make a profit
and why we need to do that so that we don't go out of business
after one contract," said Stewart & Stevenson Vice President
of Strategic Development Brian Keller.
Keller, a former U.S. Military Academy graduate and Army Acquisition
Corps officer, had just returned from a month in Kuwait searching
for opportunities to help rebuild Iraq. His own career was proof
of what he told TWI officers, "Everywhere you go and everyone
you touch will have the potential to work with you in some way for
a long time to come."
For more information on how to apply for the TWI program, check
out HRC's Web site at:
https://www.perscomonline.army.mil
 .
You can also contact Paula Bettes at (803) 751-5390, DSN 734-5390,
or paula.bettes@jackson.army.mil
or Wanda Meisner at (703) 704-0104, DSN 654-0104, or wanda.meisner@us.army.mil.
| Fiscal
Year 2003 AAC TWI Officers and Industries |
MAJ Hakeem A. Muhammad, General Motors Truck Group, Warren, MI.
MAJ Douglas L. Oyler, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Huntsville, AL.
MAJ Shawn B. Powell, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA.
MAJ Albert J. Visconti, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
MAJ Dean E. Wiley, Stewart & Stevenson, Houston, TX.
MAJ Michael P. Zrimm, Jr., Computer Sciences Corporation, Reston, VA.
CPT Dannell T. Gamel, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control, Orlando, FL.
CPT Gary S. McLeod, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control, Dallas, TX.
(CPT McLeod is pursuing
an M.B.A through the Advanced Civil Schooling program at
the University of Texas at Arlington,
which includes a TWI phase.)
CPT Donald G. Stewart, Lockheed Martin Info Systems, Orlando, FL.
CPT Laundette Stewart, NCR, Peachtree City, GA.
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