WORKFORCE Te range of capabilities in his portfolio—
“from fundamental university research all the way to full-scale prototypes that are ready to go into production”—is some- thing that others often find surprising. In one case, he and his team went from requirement to a limited fielding within four months. “Tis was the Transport Isolation System, designed to transport infected Ebola patients safely on military transport aircraft, and we were respond- ing to an urgent requirement from the U.S. Transportation Command,” he explained. “Tis was a national-level cri- sis, so all the players—users, operational test agency, contractor, suppliers, etc.— were motivated to act.”
One factor in his team’s success was part- nering with the Joint Project Manager
(JPM) for Protection within the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense.
“In addition to my work and active- duty
experience, Defense Acquisition JPM Protec-
tion “worked closely with us on every step of the process,” Bass said, “negotiat- ing a production contract before testing was completed, so we moved seamlessly from the urgent materiel release decision to production deliveries within several weeks.”
His staff is also working with universi- ties to learn fundamental characteristics of nanomaterials with the potential to improve Soldier gear. “We are focused on materials that are good adsorbents of agents and possess catalytic activity to destroy the agents and expel the byprod- ucts. Tese materials may one day be incorporated into the duty uniform to provide continuous protection with a suit that decontaminates itself.”
Bass, who served 20 years in the Army before retiring in 2000 at
the rank of
lieutenant colonel, noted that his greatest satisfaction “is finding technical solu- tions to problems that have been around since I served in the Army.” His first acquisition-related position was on an advanced development team for the M40 Protective Mask in the mid-1980s, when he was a captain. He gravitated toward acquisition after retiring from the Army.
S&T MANAGER OF THE YEAR Dr. Charles A. Bass Jr. receives the 2017 Acquisition Workforce Achievement and Development Innovation Award for Science and Technology Manager from the Hon. Ellen M. Lord, then-undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics and now undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, at a Pentagon ceremony Dec. 6. At right are Patrick M. Shanahan, deputy secre- tary of defense, and Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Ierardi, director, Force Structure, Resources and Assess- ment (J8), Joint Chiefs of Staff. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Tammy Nooner)
“Tis position gives me a great opportu- nity to apply my advanced degrees and experience as a warfighter.”
During his military career, Bass spent four years at what is now known as the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Bio- logical Center, taught chemistry at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and served in assignments and deployments with maneuver units
at
the battalion, brigade and division lev- els. After retiring, he spent several years managing research for a small business.
University training on the program man- agement track helped me understand how to interface with the acquisition program manager,” he said. “All these experiences address various aspects of what I do on a daily basis.”
Bass sees his role in part as the bridge between the researcher and the acquisi- tion program manager, “so it is important to gain experience and training to under- stand the details of the activities in both domains,” he said. He recommends devel- opmental assignments in areas where an employee’s experience may be lacking.
“For instance, I facilitated a developmen- tal assignment for a new S&T manager to spend some time working at the bench level in the lab that performed a large portion of the projects she was going to manage,” he said.
DTRA’s Chemical and Biological Tech- nologies Department developed the Scientist in the Foxhole program, which gives S&T managers a chance to observe tactical unit activities and get some hands-on experience so they can better understand the needs of the warfighter. Army researchers participated in exer- cises with the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Command at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California. Other variations have included Scientist on the Flight Line, wherein researchers work with Air Force engineers at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, and Scientist at Sea, wherein S&T staff observed activities at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia. “We have swapped positions with our sup- ported acquisition program management office, and we were able to train personnel and strengthen ties as a result,” he said.
—MS. SUSAN L. FOLLETT HTTPS: / /
ASC.ARMY.MIL 149
WORKFORCE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168
