BUT FIRST, LUNCH I TAGG LEDUC


COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Product Manager for Virtual Training Systems; Project Manager for Training Devices; Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation


TITLE: Electronics engineer


YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 11


DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level III in engineering; Level I in program management


EDUCATION: B.S. in electrical engineer- ing technology, University of Maine


f you’re looking for Tagg LeDuc, don’t try calling him at lunchtime. “I believe life is too short to take anything too seriously, so making a point to take a break for lunch at a specific time is a way to maintain some semblance of control for that period where you can take a breath, decompress and relax for a bit,” said


LeDuc, electronics engineer for the Product Manager for Virtual Training Systems (VTS) within the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumenta- tion (PEO STRI).


He’s usually pretty hungry anyway, since he spends much of his free time training for triathlons and other multisport endurance events, including a 29-mile swim-run race in Switzerland and a 70.3-mile triathlon in Estonia. “Te acquisition position is multi- faceted, just like being a triathlete,” said LeDuc. “To deliver a quality product, you need to put time into multiple activities and you need to be able to transition quickly from one to another.”


Formerly known as the Product Manager for Ground Combat Tactical Trainers, VTS falls within PEO STRI’s Project Manager for Training Devices, which provides Soldiers realistic training environments and equipment. VTS develops, fields and provides total acquisition life cycle management for precision gunnery, driver, route clearance, air and watercraft operation; satellite control and maintenance; and virtual training systems, supporting institutional, home station and contingency operations.


LeDuc’s job “is to take the Soldier’s needs and turn them into a functional requirement in a training device,” he said. “Tat ensures that the Soldier is training on the most rele- vant training systems available, keeping them on the forefront of the fight and alive for their families.” Te short version of what he does for a living? “I tell people I work on very large video games. Tey always want to learn more when I say that.”


Te biggest challenge he faces is one he shares with many who juggle multiple projects, deadlines and shifting priorities: last-minute requests with a tight deadline. “Last-minute taskers with a short fuse require me to stop work on all other activities. It’s disruptive to


MEET ANDROID


In July 2017, LeDuc and a colleague trav- eled to San Francisco and, as part of a larger Army group led by Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, met with Google repre- sentatives to discuss Google’s technology capacities and how they might become a player in the Army training and simulation world. (Photos courtesy of Tagg LeDuc)


74


Army AL&T Magazine


October-December 2018


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