IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MISSION
MATTHEW ADAMS
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition, Program Manager Towed Artillery Systems
TITLE: Financial manager
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 13
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Level III in business-financial management
EDUCATION: MBA, Florida Institute of Tech- nology; B.A. in accounting, Moravian College
Matthew Adams is a case study in why people choose to devote their careers to the U.S. Army as government civilians. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the desire to make a positive difference nearly always tops the list of the biggest draws of federal work—and the job security and opportunities for career growth aren’t far behind. For Adams, his “aha! moment” about the importance of the Army acquisition mission happened during his first acquisition job. “Working in a program management office, you are constantly procuring items to field and sustain the fleet,” he said. “My first acqui- sition position was a journey-level financial management analyst, supporting a small survey program. It was amazing to see items that were procured by our office make it to the field for Soldiers to use.”
Adams began his Army career in 2008, working as an engineering technician. In that job, he “was reviewing technical data drawings to support procurements,” he said, adding that he was drawn to the mission and the possibilities for growth as an Army civilian, and that he knew he had found the right place to build a career. After about five years, he transitioned to financial analyst at the Armaments Research and Development Center in 2013, which is now the Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center, at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.
Today, more than 13 years after that first experience, Adams works as the financial lead for a program management office at the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition (JPEO A&A) at Picatinny Arsenal. “At Program Manager Towed Artil- lery Systems [PM TAS], we are part of a team that develops, equips and sustains towed cannon artillery and survey systems for Soldiers, Marines and international partners,” he said. “Being a part of the Army Acquisition Workforce, you get the opportunity to see technologies from infancy to the grave.”
And PM TAS has technologies in spades—several models of towed howitzer, the howit- zer digitization mission and M119 digital fire control systems, the M111A1 navigation and surveying system, and even the 122 mm D30 nonstandard howitzer. “People are sometimes surprised by the size and scope of the work that we accomplish at Picatinny Arsenal,” he said. “A lot of locals don’t even realize that this work, and so many other efforts that are vital to our military, have been done at Picatinny Arsenal, right in their back yards, for a hundred years.”
Recently, Adams completed a five-month developmental assignment with the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for plans, programs and resources (DASA(PPR)), some- thing he found very helpful for his overall understanding of the acquisition enterprise. “Being able to spend some time doing a developmental assignment at the Pentagon was very beneficial in helping me see the bigger picture. Most people don’t realize how many
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Army AL&T Magazine
Summer 2022
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