WORKFORCE
and holding several leadership positions, having to start over from scratch and learning new skills—some of which were very demanding and detailed—was a major adjustment.” She advises other NCOs making the transition to stay focused and motivated throughout the process. “Get everything out of each experience, from networking to taking notes on how to complete a contract you don’t have experience with or a briefing or report needed after a mission. Everything we do and the relationships we build make us that much more valuable and user-friendly.”
One thing that eased the transition was the camaraderie of the people she worked with. “Our career field was and is very small, and there was always a sense of family in everything we did and at every opportunity we met,” she said. “Whether it was coming together during our annual training exercises or preparing for the NCO of the Year competition, everyone … had a ‘one team, one fight’ mindset and we took care of one another. We all knew each other, which was really nice when we heard each other’s names across the world.”She noted that her key developmental assign- ment—serving as brigade staff NCO for the 411th Contracting Support Brigade in Korea—was the most valuable one of her career so far, a good thing because that’s exactly the intent of such assignments. “Tat assignment challenged me to push myself outside of my comfort zone of always being that worker bee behind the scenes. I’m one of those dedicated hard workers who doesn’t like being in the limelight, but that’s not possible in this role. I did so many different things—setting up teleconferences or putting together a retirement ceremony, for example—and was the face of the organization within the community. I was the first female president of the area’s Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, was photographed at all kinds of events, and took part in 5Ks
and half-marathons. Te most challenging aspect was figuring out how to do everything and be everywhere, as often as I could.”
Fortunately, she had lots of support from leadership and her co-workers. “I came across so much knowledge and genuine care for Soldiers from so many leaders,” she said, including brigade commanders Col. Americus Gill, Col. David Ware and Col. Johnny Broughton; staff officers Lt. Col. Marty Plys, Lt. Col. Paul Tomcik and Lt. Col. Michael Harris; and her direct leader- ship, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Redecker, Maj. Maurice Hudson and Master Sgt. Stephanie Bennett.
Lyles also found a lot of value in the Defense Acquisition Univer- sity courses she took, particularly those in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) fundamentals, advanced contracting, joint contingency contracting and emergency acquisition. “Tey taught me a lot: a plethora of FAR information, preparing for deploy- ment and confirming my leadership style as well as that of the leaders I worked with.”
Lyles’ background and accomplishments were factors in her accep- tance into the Training With Industry program in 2016, when she was one of two NCOs selected for that year’s cohort. She spent 12 months in the Contracts Management Division of Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure and Operations in 2016 and 2017. “I really enjoyed the bonding and transparency of the work environment there,” she said. “I learned a lot about industry contracting, and how Microsoft became one of the leaders in the cloud industry.”
Te most important lesson Lyles has learned on and off the job is the importance of networking. It takes many forms, she said:
“The most challenging aspect was figuring out how to do everything and be everywhere, as often as I could.”
“Keeping boots on ground, interacting with the warfighters’ orga- nizations, learning how we can best help them with their needs and ensure that they know who we are, keeping a good line of communication and educating them as often as needed to get exactly what they need to be sustainable. Get out of your cubi- cle—meet your customers, build relationships within the base and surrounding communities, and have a good line of commu- nication with leaders and customers.”
Mindset is important, too, she said. “I always remind everyone, junior or senior, new or seasoned acquisition personnel, to look at the glass as being half full. Contracting experiences differ … stateside, outside the U.S. and in deployment areas, so have patience and an open mind.”
—SUSAN L. FOLLETT
https://asc.ar my.mil
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