ELIMINATING PRECONCEPTIONS M BYRON A. KIGHT
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program, Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems
TITLE: Acquisition management specialist YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 8
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level II in program management and in life cycle logistics
EDUCATION: B.S. in business manage- ment, North Carolina A&T State University
AWARDS: Director’s Civilian of the Quarter; Achievement Medal for Civilian Service; Certificate of Achieve- ment; Outstanding Service Award
any members of the acquisition workforce have found themselves on the receiving end of a blank stare after explaining what they do for a living. Not so for Byron Kight. “People tend to be very interested in how a capability gap is filled. It’s not always stated in those words,
but that’s the gist of their primary interest. I often encounter people who find the acquisition process to be interesting, particularly the amount of moving parts and the sheer volume of different stakeholders involved with any given effort,” he said.
“Tose same people are often quite surprised to find out how hard most DA civil- ians work. We do have an unfair label, and I enjoy the challenge of ripping it off.”
Kight, an acquisition management specialist for the Installation Information Infra- structure Modernization Program (I3MP) within the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), is a translator of sorts. “In essence, it’s our mission to ensure that requirements, established by CIO/G-6 [Army Chief Infor- mation Officer/G-6] and TRADOC [U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command], are logically understood by our industry partners.”
He’s part of a team responsible for acquisition planning, acquisition strategy devel- opment, acquisition review, and approval and configuration control of all applicable acquisition program documents, including contract data requirement lists, market research, system requirement documents, statements of work, cost estimates and documents associated with contract modifications. “I do my best to ensure that contractual language and the applicable artifacts are well understood by both our industry partners as well as I3MP staff. We also do our best to ensure that we facili- tate open lines of communication with Army Contracting Command – Rock Island,” he said.
“Our success is measured by corps, division and theater HQs possessing the ability to deploy and distribute warfighting functions and watch sections across mission command nodes according to a commander’s intent. My goal is to assist in ensur- ing that the number one priority—readiness—is continuously met, as we attempt to provide stability and continuity during both war and peace.”
When it comes to helping develop that documentation, he usually comes to the table empty-handed—by design. “It’s been my experience that most of the confu- sion surrounding the acquisition process usually stems from preconceived notions. If I can begin to break down some of those notions, I can do some rebuilding,” he explained. “I try to do more listening than talking and I ask very measured questions. Trough those questions, I’m typically able to obtain a really good picture, figur- ing out what the desired end state should resemble. I can then convert the necessary
18
Army AL&T Magazine
January-March 2019
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
