IT’S ALL CONNECTED T ROBERT F. MCKELVEY III
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Cyber- security and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Combat Systems Division; Survivability Evalua- tion Directorate; U.S. Army Evaluation Center; U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command
TITLE: CEMA evaluator and test manager
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 14
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level III in test and evaluation; Level II in program management
EDUCATION: M.S. in program management and public policy, Naval Postgraduate School; B.S. in mechani- cal engineering, Penn State University
AWARDS: Superior Civilian Service Award; Commander’s Award for Civil- ian Service; Achievement Medal for Civilian Service; Secretary of Defense Medal for Global War on Terrorism
urns out your kindergarten teacher was right: Learning to play nicely with others is a vital skill, no matter your profession. “Acquisition work always comes down to people,” said Robert F. McKelvey III, cybersecurity and electromagnetic activities (CEMA) evaluator and
test manager for the U.S. Army Evaluation Center (AEC). “Everyone in the acquisition workforce has a job to do and sometimes those jobs are at odds with one another; that’s by design. Tose intellectual impacts can lead to a better product for the Soldier and DOD, but we need to show respect for our co-workers and their missions across the community. If you can package your expertise in a respectful way that is useful to your customers on their sched- ule, you’ll be unstoppable.”
McKelvey is part of the CEMA Combat Systems Division within AEC’s Survivability Evaluation Directorate, which focuses on survivability, ballistic and nonballistic battlefield threats, live-fire evaluations and reports, vulnera- bility and lethality of Army and joint systems, and cybersecurity in assessing information assurance and interoperability.
AEC, a subordinate organization of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), “is the Army’s ‘Consumer Reports,’ ” said McKelvey, tasked with characterizing the readiness of a broad portfolio of programs for integration into the operational environment. Surprisingly, he noted, most Soldiers are unaware of the organization’s existence. “Te typical Army unit does not routinely interact with AEC,” he noted. “But once they understand AEC’s mission and the multitude of systems being supported, Soldiers tend to be surprised with how much we actually do and have to offer in the realm of system effectiveness, suitability and survivability to ensure their safety on the battlefield.”
McKelvey studied mechanical engineering in college, with the goal of design- ing cars, but he switched to systems engineering after the events of 9/11. His work leading the vehicle dynamics team that was part of Penn State University’s entry into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Grand Challenge attracted the attention of the Survivability Evaluation Directorate at a job fair. His first acquisition position was as a nonballistic survivability analyst working on Future Combat Systems within the directorate, and he has remained there for 14 years, tackling different assignments at increasing degrees of responsi- bility and difficulty.
“I’ve learned that there are lots of opportunities for motivated people to help move a project forward,” he noted. One of his first opportunities came not long after he was hired. “I had a great first mentor in Capt. Tom Stocks and a supportive division chief in Jim Myers. Tey took me under their wing and helped me build a strong foundation in the tenets of survivability.” In 2007,
38 Army AL&T Magazine October-December 2018
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