DRIVING CHANGE IN THE AAW M MAJ. TOM BEYERL
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center, Director for Acquisition Career Manage- ment, Strategy and Policy Branch
TITLE: Functional Area 51 proponency officer YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 8 YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE: 16
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level II in program management
EDUCATION: M.S. in mechanical engineering, Georgia Southern Univer- sity; M.S. in administration, Central Michigan University; B.S. in mechani- cal engineering, Norwich University
AWARDS: Bronze Star (2nd award), Meritorious Service Medal (2nd award), Army Commendation Medal (3rd award), Army Achievement Medal
aj. Tom Beyerl is a man of action. An optimist by nature and an engi- neer by training, he brings an almost unnatural amount of energy to his work. Picture the Energizer bunny, but in uniform. “If you’re a Myers-Briggs [Type Indicator] person, I’m an ENTJ [extroverted,
intuitive, thinking and judging],” he said. “It’s kind of a weird combination.” Accord- ing to 16 Personalities, a personality testing company, ENTJs are “decisive people who love momentum and accomplishment.” Tey “gather information to construct their creative visions but rarely hesitate for long before acting on them.” Tat should sound familiar to anyone who knows Beyerl.
He decided to join the Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW) after a positive experi- ence conducting a limited user test with his Stryker rifle company. “Tis was my first interaction with Army Acquisition Corps [AAC] officers,” he said. “I was extremely impressed with the impact they had on system development.” An engineer through and through, Beyerl is naturally curious and has a passion for solving problems. “I always wanted the opportunity to work toward developing better ‘kit,’ ” he said, referring to the equipment carried by Soldiers in the field, “and the Acquisition Corps offered that chance.” His first AAW position was at the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Soldier, where he was responsible for major upgrades in laser targeting devices and rangefind- ers for Product Manager Soldier Precision Targeting Devices.
Today, Beyerl works as a proponency officer within the Strategy and Policy Branch in the Office of the Director of Acquisition Career Management (DACM). His primary responsibility is developing and staffing programs to help the AAW keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of acquisition. “I am responsible for ensuring the Human Capital Strategic Plan captures senior leader guidance and can … ensure our work- force recruits, develops and retains” the necessary talent. He also provides support to a broad array of military and civilian talent management initiatives.
So, what does he enjoy most about his work? “My greatest satisfaction, as part of this great team, is the opportunity to contribute to talent management changes which will have lasting effects on the quality and performance of our workforce,” he said. Not that he withholds career advice from those outside the AAW—he’s too energetic to keep a good idea to himself. “I once recruited a Marine pilot in engineering school,” he laughed. Beyerl was in graduate school and had been talking with a classmate who was concerned about the job market. “Unless you found a way to make yourself stand apart, it would be a difficult, competitive market,” he said. So Beyerl sold him on the idea of commissioning as a Marine Corps pilot, then returning to the civilian job market later. Among his selling points, “You get to fly planes—there is nothing cooler. You’ll be more marketable than your peers if you decide to get out of the mili- tary after your commitment. And if you like it, you get to stay!” Pragmatic advice, delivered with a bit of salesman’s flair.
But like any good engineer, Beyerl knows talent advancement is, ultimately, all about the data. “Talent management is such a qualitative subject that it can be hard to
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Army AL&T Magazine
Fall 2020
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