OPERATIONAL TESTING AND THE ACQUISITION TRIUMVIRATE
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
A civilian works on validating a system at the NIE Integration Motor Pool, March 12. The PM, TCM and operational test communities need to establish ROEs to help these teams become a team of teams. (Photo by Vanessa Flores, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology System of Systems Integration Directorate Public Affairs)
goal: winning. But to win, each player must respect and trust the others to do their jobs. Te same holds true for the acquisition community. We must strive to better understand the way our posi- tions interact and how we can better interact with one another. It is through this shared understanding, coupled with the team-of-teams concept, that our pro- fessional relationships are cultivated and all players are motivated to unite behind the same goal.
“One of the greatest assets in a success- ful operational test would be the level and amount of participation in the test and evaluation working integrated pro- cess
teams,” said MAJ Rhea Pritchett,
who works in the TCM Office for Net- works and Services at Fort Gordon, GA.
“When these meetings lack involvement, people stop talking, and then every issue becomes a potential red star cluster,” that is, when small issues get blown up into crises and emergencies.
If all parties are actively involved from the early planning stages to the end of the test, then the proper expectations are clear to all, and valuable insight and input are integrated from the onset. Problems can
30 Army AL&T Magazine
also be solved early on and at lower lev- els, Soldiers receive better training on the test products as a result of better input integration, and a clear system of checks and balances is established to ensure the transparency of the process.
CONCLUSION
“What we really need is a clear set of ROEs [rules of engagement],” said Gene Borrero, division chief, Enterprise Infor- mation Systems Test Division, Mission Command Test Directorate. “Tis would be really beneficial to all parties if estab- lished well before the test.” ROEs are established quite often during OTs, but are mostly informal and not necessar- ily known to all involved. Formal ROEs that are agreed upon during the planning stages and published in a wider format for all participants to view and under- stand could lead to a greater appreciation and respect for each professional’s role in the test. Rules that guide the conduct of training for Soldiers on the equipment to be tested, test-site visitation, focus group or survey attendance and escort require- ments are just a few of several potentially contentious areas that could be resolved through a clear set of ROEs.
All of the OT stakeholders play impor- tant, interconnected roles in the test process and, although challenges exist, there are definite ways to moderate or eliminate such problems. “Even a failed test is an opportunity to make something better,” said COL Charles Stein, project manager for Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems. “Te OT is the Super Bowl where we can test our mettle—or metal, in the case of equipment—where it counts: with the Soldier,” he added.
For more information, contact the author at
Adrian.n.watts.mil@
mail.mil. Acquisi- tion officers interested in working in testing Army systems and equipment should contact their branch manager about future assign- ment opportunities at the USAOTC or visit the USAOTC website at http://www.otc.
army.mil/.
MAJ ADRIAN N. WATTS is an
operational test officer with USAOTC’s Mission Command Test Directorate. She holds a B.S. in science and engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point. She is Level II certified in information technology.
+ July-September 2015
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