and people who have nonlinear problem- solving skills.
As you think about the acquisition work- force, we know those skills and talents are out there. In some cases, it may not be someone who is a DA civilian, it may not be somebody wearing a uniform—it may be talent in industry that we are try- ing to seek and trying to leverage. Part of the challenge with that is, with all our databases and all of our systems, we don’t directly see the talent that is in industry, but that’s why industry partnerships are so critical. And not just with the big defense companies,
either—smaller companies
also have a role. Sometimes the smaller companies could offer a capability faster than some of the larger ones can.
Tere is a caution there as well. We don’t want to blindly mimic practices in civilian organizations or in private practice that may not fit the Army’s unique cultural require- ments. Tat is again one of the things the Rapid Capabilities Office is going to help to do, be that bridge with industry and the operational part of the Army.
Jones-Bonbrest: How is Army talent management changing? What were some of the new approaches the task force tried?
Shoffner: Te Talent Management Task Force has existed for about 18 months now, and we were starting to pilot a few of the initiatives. One example is a pilot we are about to begin for the cyber work- force. We are actually looking to do a pilot for direct commissioning and bring folks on wearing a uniform to work in our cyber force. Tis may be folks who are just a few years out of college who already have some experience, and it may be folks who are toward an end of a civil- ian career. We want to be able to leverage the talent that’s out there throughout the range of experiences. We also want to be
MISSION: INNOVATION
Shoffner talks with Col. Christopher Norrie, commander of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Iron Brigade) in Grafenwoehr, Germany, in May during a visit to U.S. Army Europe. Shoffner’s trip was part of Army leaders’ ongoing discussions with combatant commanders and units in Europe about capability gaps and innovative solutions. Iron Brigade Soldiers are currently stationed in countries across Central and Eastern Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. (U.S. Army photo)
able to compensate them appropriately. Tis direct commissioning authority that was given to us in the last National Defense Authorization Act gives us that for the first time. We are really excited about it, and we’re going to push this pretty aggressively. Te goal
is to find
those folks, to select and hire them, and get them into the training base sometime later this year.
We also tried something fairly innovative where we took a Soldier who was separat- ing at the end of the first term of enlistment, and we brought him on as a DA civilian, a GS-13. Why? We did this because the Sol- dier wanted to continue to serve, he loved what he was doing and he didn’t want to re-enlist, but he did want to continue to
serve and help the team. By bringing him on as a GS-13, we were able to pay him reasonably well and ideally keep him for a career, not just the next term of enlistment. So to me that’s a win in the long term— Soldiers no longer wearing a uniform but still on the Army team.
Jones-Bonbrest: Do these initiatives
apply to the civilian workforce as well, especially in today’s uncertain global security environment when the Army can’t afford to lose top talent?
Shoffner: Some of the things we are
learning in other career fields—for example,
in cyber—we’ll look at for
applicability across the workforce. Te Acquisition Corps has one of the largest
ASC.ARMY.MIL 41
ACQUISITION
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