PATHS TO LEADERSHIP
MICHAEL SWITZER POSITION:
Cargo Helicopter International Program, Program Executive Office for Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, AL
CERTIFICATIONS:
Level III in program management, test and evaluation, and engineering; Level I in business–financial management, life cycle logistics and contracting
YEARS IN WORKFORCE: Approximately 20. Accessed into the Acquisition Workforce as an Army officer in 1995; became a civil servant in 2008
AAC MEMBERSHIP: Yes
EDUCATION: M.A. in procurement and acquisition management, Webster University; B.S. in computer science, United States Military Academy at West Point
Please describe briefly your career path. In what ways did it resemble or not resemble the Program Management Career Model?
I was accessed into the Acquisition Corps when I was accepted into the Army’s engineering test pilot track and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1995. I had decided I wanted to be an engineering test pilot and was attracted to the opportunities within the Acquisi- tion Corps and the test and evaluation (T&E) field. I had various T&E assignments in Alabama and Maryland, and then went on exchange to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom [U.K.], test-flying various aircraft. While in the U.K., I was selected to be a product manager at Redstone [Arsenal, AL] and transitioned into program management. Upon completion of that assignment, I transitioned into the civil service and was a deputy product man- ager, product director and business manager until I was selected for my current role: product director for the Cargo Helicopter Interna- tional Program within Program Executive Office Aviation.
My career path did not resemble the Program Management Career Model for civilians. However, I have walked around the chart in the military for 26 years and now as a civilian for nearly eight. I satisfied the Civilian Education System Advanced Course require- ment through the Army Command and General Staff College [CGSC], and I’ve taken the Foundation Course required of all civil- ians since 2006. Te Army provided considerable opportunities for leadership training at every level—lieutenant, captain, major and lieutenant colonel—and I’ve also graduated from the Army Senior Leader Development Course.
As for the acquisition programs, I have completed these both in the military and as a civilian: I took the Acquisition Leadership Challenge Program II in 2012, and completed my master’s degree while at CGSC in the Army Acquisition Corps. I was also in the pilot program for the Acquisition Officer Degree Completion Program while in CGSC.
My assignments varied from the traditional model: My four years at West Point provided me with a lot of leadership and educa- tional training. After commissioning, I did nearly 10 years of operational assignments within aviation, and commanded and led at the platoon and company levels. Ten I accessed into Army acquisition and started my assignments in my primary career field, which was T&E. I did that for nearly 10 years and was then selected as a CSL [Centralized Selection List] product manager for an aviation program, never having been an assistant product manager or assigned to a PEO or project office. Once I transi- tioned to civil service, I started out at the deputy product manager level and did that for nearly three years until I got selected for the Senior Service College Fellowship (SSCF) program. From there, I
I have always attempted to give back from the great lessons learned and examples my coaches and mentors have given me to my workforce and others where and when I can, both in my professional life and in my community.
124 Army AL&T Magazine July-September 2015
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