Hill became part of the Army Acquisi- tion Workforce as a co-op student after his freshman year of college; he alternated semesters between working and attend- ing classes throughout his undergraduate years. “Te diversity of work assignments appealed to me as an engineer in training. I saw that I could work on a wide variety of products and technologies throughout my career with ample opportunity to tran- sition to different projects.”
One of the most important points in his career came about 10 years ago, when he was competitively selected for a develop- mental assignment as executive officer to a Senior Executive Service (SES) member. Originally assigned to work for Patri- cia Martin in AMRDEC’s Engineering Directorate, Hill ended up working for Randy Harkins, who had become the acting director after Martin was named acting director for AMRDEC’s Systems Engineering and Support Division. “Tat assignment helped me get a much better perspective of how the Army works at a much younger point in my career than is typical,” said Hill. “It also broadened my view of possible career paths and helped me to form relationships with senior lead- ers that have mentored me throughout my career.”
A BLENDED APPROACH
Working in a team environment fosters better solutions to problems than tackling them alone, said Hill, center. His team at the IAMD Project Office includes, from left, Carla Auchterlonie, Donnie Shumate, Taylor Martin, Gary Ferris, Scott Gill, Gary Hayes, Glenn Greenlee and David Hou. (Photo by Chuck Braziel, PEO for Missiles and Space)
Hill now tries to pay that forward by mentoring others. “Te most important advice that I have been given and that I try to pass on to junior personnel is to have a plan for how you want to achieve your career goals. You will not achieve your career goals by accident or without deliber- ate action. Also, be proactive in managing your career. Do not assume your supervi- sor will do it for you.”
“Most people assume that engineers work nearly in isolation with little interaction, when in fact almost everything we do is done through teamwork.”
In that vein, he volunteered to help with an effort undertaken by the Army Career Program 16 Proponency Office to update the career map for occupational series 0801, general engineering. Hill was one of 13 people selected as a subject matter expert for that effort, based on his expe- rience and his supervisory and technical expertise. “It’s a really comprehensive map of the functional competencies, training and certifications from GS-1 all the way up to the SES level. It’s helpful even for someone at my level, and it’s even more
beneficial for someone just starting out, to know what degrees and training and expe- rience will be needed to advance.”
Now in the 17th year of his career, he’s seen several big changes come his way.
“Te change from the abundant fund- ing that we saw during the global war on terror to the budget challenges and seques- tration was big. Budgets got a lot smaller, and we were asked to do as much or more with a lot less money. Te biggest change I’ve seen recently is the push to get capabil- ities fielded faster.” If he were in charge, he said he would “look to streamline where I could—cut review times, speed up the contracting process. I’d also look to make changes in the budget process, specifically when it comes to the continuing resolu- tions. We could get a lot more done if we didn’t have to spend three or four months wondering about funding.”
—SUSAN L. FOLLETT HTTPS: / /
ASC.ARMY.MIL 133
WORKFORCE
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