SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
SPOTLIGHT: MR. PAUL MANZ
Keeping an eye on ‘the right next thing’
MR. PAUL MANZ COMMAND/ORGANIZATION:
Program Executive Office for Ammunition TITLE: Chief scientist DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS:
Level III in engineering, program manage- ment, science and technology management, life-cycle logistics, business, cost estimating, financial management, and systems plan- ning, research, development and engineer- ing (SPRDE). Also serves as Army DAWIA SPRDE acquisition functional reviewer for all engineering acquisition career fields.
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 31
EDUCATION: MPA (public administration), Fairleigh Dick- inson University; B.S. in electrical engineer- ing, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
AWARDS:
Meritorious Civilian Service Award; Superi- or Civilian Service Award (2); Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (2); Achieve- ment Medal for Civilian Service (2); Army Research and Development Achievement Award; Outstanding AMC Personnel of the Year Award; Ancient Order of St. Barbara; Holds 7 U.S. patents
I
n the 30-plus years since he joined the Army Acquisition Workforce, Paul Manz has transitioned from being the “oldest of the young” to
the “youngest of the old.” But the chief scientist for the Program Executive Office for Ammunition (PEO Ammo) is quick to note that that isn’t such a bad thing. “I fre- quently find myself in the role of a mentor, which I also enjoy, discussing and sharing the underlying whys and hows of solutions to problems with my younger colleagues using the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained over my career.”
Manz has held positions across the joint munitions, battle command, fire support, enterprise architecture, systems engineer- ing and electronic devices communities, and has supported numerous major acqui- sition category (ACAT) systems. “I’ve been fortunate that my career has touched the entire materiel development life cycle, from science and technology through pro- duction and deployment, which in turn has helped me become a better problem- solver,” he said.
Manz has seen a great deal of change since 1984, the biggest being the role that infor- mation technology plays in the workforce.
“Omnipresent information technology creates an ever-increasing demand for producing and delivering timely critical information so leaders can make informed decisions in a fast- moving
strategic 74
environment. As a young engineer, I saw how difficult it was for leadership and senior staff to maintain a healthy balance between their work life and family life. It’s even more difficult to maintain that balance when people are now constantly electronically connected, especially in our current climate of
fiscal uncertainty and significant potential organizational change,” he said.
“I have also seen a general and growing preference by many people to communi- cate via email versus picking up the phone or walking down the hall to talk to some- one in person,” Manz added. “I know there is goodness in being able to inform all stakeholders at the same time with the same information via email to make sure that everyone is on the same sheet of music, but that can also create communi- cation inefficiencies: it’s easier to hit the
‘send’ button instead of taking the time to truly filter who should get what informa- tion at that specific point in time in the overall process.”
“But
Manz admits that he thought about leav- ing government work for the private sector a few times over the past 30-plus years. looking back,
each time I made
the decision to remain a federal civilian employee, it was the right decision. I think everything you do and every experience you gain has a bigger purpose leading you to the right next thing in your life, and I
international conflict,
Army AL&T Magazine
October-December 2015
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