From the Army Acquisition Executive ASAALT Welcome and Introduction
T
his column is an excellent way for me to communicate on a regular basis with the Army’s Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology
(AL&T) community. I have been reading this award- winning publication for many years and find it to be a valuable resource. With this issue, I would like to share a few things that are uppermost in my mind as I take on my new leadership duties.
At the outset, let me state that I am ready to contribute experience, dedication to duty, and ethical discipline during my tenure as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASAALT). I am deeply honored by the trust the President of the United States placed in me by nominating me to serve as the ASAALT; by the confirmation of my nomination by the U.S. Senate, particularly members of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and by the confidence placed in me by the Secretary of the Army.
It is a great privilege for me to be given this opportunity to lead you, the dedicated professionals of the Army’s 41,000-member AL&T Workforce, a community charged with equipping and sustaining the world’s most capable, powerful, and respected Army. It is you, the men and women of the Army AL&T community—military and civilian—who will see that policies get implemented, that systems are procured and fielded with the latest technology, and that our Soldiers maintain their decisive edge for current and future expeditionary operations.
As background, I have been in the AL&T business for 43 years. I served 34 years on active duty as an Army officer, both in peacetime and combat. My first acquisition job was as a member of the source selection team for what was then called SAM-D (Surface-to-Air Missile, Development)—now the Patriot missile system. My most recent technology job was chairing the Board on Army Science and Technology for the National Academies and the National Research Council.
In 1991, I was selected as the first director of the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps, and I became convinced that the key to program management success is people. I still believe that today. I also
believe that technology makes a difference on the battlefield. For this reason, the interaction between the technologist and the warfighter must be virtually continuous. Our leadership must aggressively pursue innovative solutions and stimulate an information
exchange among warfighters, industry, academia, and Army technologists. I also believe that logistics demands intensive management and close cooperation between operational forces and the sustaining base.
I am pleased that this issue of Army AL&T Magazine is dedicated to joint systems and equipment. In the last 8 years, we have seen all services working together to support successful combat, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations. Our U.S. military is the finest in the world, in part, because our leaders and service members have embraced joint warfighting. For example, in response to deadly improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan, it took just 10 months for the Army and the U.S. Marine Corps to define requirements, procure, and field the Mine Resistant Ambushed Protected vehicle to significantly enhance force protection.
These are very hard times economically, so it’s even more important today to manage our acquisition systems, including our joint systems, very carefully. The Army must obtain maximum value for its investment. We must ensure that our programs are healthy and that any problems are identified at the earliest possible stage so program adjustments can be made to keep them healthy. By building more discipline, oversight, and transparency into the process, we are better able to provide services, deliver mature technologies, and rapidly procure the equipment that our Soldiers require and deserve.
In going about your daily work, I ask that you do so with integrity, honor, and courage. These qualities are of overriding importance in successful enterprises. The honor and integrity to do what is right for our programs and, ultimately, our Soldiers, is only matched, in my mind, by the courage to stand and speak the truth because it is your responsibility to do so.
I look forward to working with you to keep the Army strong, up-to- date, efficient, and effective.
Dr. Malcolm Ross O'Neill Army Acquisition Executive
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