“Tey each have different responsibili- ties for the Army, leading to different priorities and unique tribal languages. Deconflicting those is a major challenge,” Stein said. Critical to the success of the PM is fostering good relations with all of its customers.


One way PM DCATS addressed the challenge of serving this variety of cus- tomers was


to look for efficiencies in


program portfolios and to seek out the best home for missions that would fit bet- ter elsewhere.


Te best example of this was the 2015 realignment of Vehicular Intercom Sys- tems from the DCATS portfolio to a more natural home at the Program Exec- utive Office for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), which Stein said “is perfectly suited for the work of supplying intercom systems for crew-served tactical vehicles like the Humvee [High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle] or Bradley. We made the case to realign the program not long after I arrived at DCATS in August 2014,


and C3T took the reins less than a year later. Tat change was readily recogniz- able and worked out well.”


PM DCATS greatly improved com- munication channels with the Army’s chief information officer/G-6, embed- ding DCATS into the Army’s part of the planning, programming, budgeting and execution (PPBE) process upfront to more proactively manage priorities for site installations and modernization.


“Tis upfront investment during the PPBE process has helped both organizations plan further in advance and minimized end-of-year scrambling to obligate money set to expire,” Stein said.


DEVELOPMENT NEVER ENDS Te actor, cowboy and humorist Will Rogers used to say, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” In Stein’s world, that is to say that development never truly stops within any portfolio—a departure from the traditional acquisition-mile- stone mindset that views a program as strictly linear. Tis is particularly true in


“For SATCOM, we look to industry to shape the requirement based on the technology available today, which keeps us ahead of the emerging threats of tomorrow.”


SATCOM, where the Army is constantly chasing to keep up with commercial technology, Stein said. “With the rapid advance of computing and communica- tions technology, every program in this sector will continually be, at least in part, in the developmental stage,” he said.


For example, the Combat Service Sup- port Very Small Aperture Terminals (CSS VSAT) are in sustainment, but the program is already beginning to form


IT STARTS AND ENDS WITH PEOPLE


Stein speaks at the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association of Northern Virginia (AFCEA NOVA) 15th Annual Army IT Day in March 2016 in Tysons Corner, Virginia. As PM, Stein relied on SATCOM experts to guide technical decision- making and applied his own acquisition knowledge and leadership skills to build a team to execute those decisions. (Photo courtesy of AFCEA NOVA)


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COMMENTARY


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