ACQUISITION
engineering, within and across our orga- nization, and if you are not hands-on or don’t understand the big picture, you can build a house that has a second floor but doesn’t have a staircase.” Behind those moving parts are people, and Abbott works hard on developing relationships.
“I know I can’t do it all myself. I rely on subject-matter experts within and outside of my office. It’s also important to have a clear blueprint of what we’re trying to accomplish and to be able to articulate how each moving part fits into the scheme and what value they add,” she said.
Whether it’s a transformation in mission, a change in leadership or a reorganiza- tion, SOSE&I has evolved in the past several years, bringing with it some uncertainty. “Usually, as we’re work- ing through a reorganization, we draw boxes,” she said, “and that can be stress- ful for some people: What box am I in? Who’s in charge of it? Why is it smaller than the other boxes?” But change can also be a chance for growth, she added.
“I tell my staff to try to keep a positive outlook, to be flexible and to look for new opportunities that changes can bring. Te challenge is to look at each reorgani- zation as an opportunity to do something good for the Army and for your career, to ask yourself, ‘How can I demonstrate the value of what I can do for the new mis- sion—and how can I do that in a short
period of time, given that the mission is likely to change soon?’ ”
Abbott got her start as an Army civil- ian with an internship as a software developer. “My father was a lieutenant colonel for South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Tat influenced my deci- sion to be a civil servant and instilled my passion to serve our military,” she said. Following that internship, she worked in research and analysis at the Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate within the U.S. Army Communications- Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center. “From there, I went to a PM [program manager] shop, where I gained the knowledge of managing the acquisition of a system, then moved up to the PEO [program executive office] level, where I was responsible for integrating a family of systems within their portfolios.”
During that time, she also earned a mas- ter’s degree and attended the U.S. Army War College, thanks to mentorship and support from the late Maj. Gen. Har- old J. “Harry” Greene. “At the Army War College, I learned the operational and strategic side of acquisition and the power of being a jack of all trades,” Abbott said. “Knowing how to connect all these dots—from research to system- of-systems integration—is the most important aspect of my career growth. It
‘COME BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR’ Abbott receives the Honorable Dr. Claude Bolton Jr. Engineering and Systems Integra- tion Professional of the Year Award from Dr. Mark T. Esper, left, secretary of the Army; the Hon. Dr. Bruce D. Jette, assistant sec- retary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology (ASA(ALT)); and Jeffrey S. White, principal deputy to the ASA(ALT). The awards were given at a Jan. 18 Pentagon ceremony. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Secretary of the Army)
taught me how to apply those skills and experiences to enable the Army.”
Much has changed in the course of her three-decade career. “Te biggest change, which I’m excited to be part of, is this current period of transformation—the RCO and the cross-functional teams that the Army recently stood up to improve the quality and speed of delivery of new materiel and capabilities to the war- fighter.” Network Integration Evaluations were the first step in that transformation, Abbott noted, “where we emphasized working with the Soldier to get feedback to be sure that the capability met their need. Now we’re seeing the next step in making acquisition faster: involving users, developers, the testing community, look- ing at doctrine and requirements, trying to see where we can streamline and get to a program of record faster.”
Tanks to her efforts on that front, Abbott was recently named the Honor- able Dr. Claude Bolton Jr. Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year, as part of the Army Acquisi- tion Executive’s Excellence in Leadership Awards. “I was very honored and grateful for the award because I know I was com- peting against many great professionals across the Army,” she said. “When I was presented with the award, I received it on behalf of the team that contributed to my accomplishments.”
She’s hoping it’s not a one-off. “When I shook the secretary of the Army’s hand and he said to come back again next year, I immediately was thinking about the next challenge that will bring me, or any- one from my team, back on that stage to continue to represent our organization.”
—MS. SUSAN L. FOLLETT
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