ALTERNATIVE ACQUISITION
”I got my ego checked in a big way, and it forced me to focus on what really matters.”
empathy, humility, trust and integrity more than anything else. If the relationships are good and teams are functioning well, I believe that acquisition professionals and industry leaders can do amazing things for America’s military.”
YOUNG OPERATOR
Sidman on a special forces tour in Africa, as a young officer. (Photo courtesy of Maj. Michael Sidman)
XM1113 ER,” he said. “Te number one modernization prior- ity for the Army right now is long-range precision fires, so we’re a piece of that pie.”
Because of his experience as a Green Beret, he can offer insights about the importance of acquisition in the grand scheme of the Army mission. “I work with amazing Army civilians who have poured 30 or 40 years into [research, development, testing and evaluation], and program management, and giving us the best equipment in the world as America’s Soldiers,” he said. “I tell them, ‘You may not hear this every day, but I’ll tell you, as a former pipe hitter [a term for an elite operator] who got all the best equipment—I didn’t realize all the work that went into it— but what you do matters. It all matters.’ ”
He shares two pieces of wisdom that he has learned during his Army career. First is a saying he picked up in special forces train- ing. “Humans are more important than hardware.” Second, relationships are the foundation of effective teams. “Relationships are the most important focus I have when I’m trying to accom- plish work with my teams,” he said. “I focus on communication,
Recently, Sidman has applied those skills to the Army’s Nickel Rotating Band effort, which is a crucial step to enable testing for the new Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA). “Most artillery shells throughout the Army’s history have had a copper rotating band. Tat band is an alloy that’s welded onto the outside of the shell, and it basically bites into the spiral inside of the cannon, and it kind of melts and conforms to that spiral and allows the shell to get the spin and muzzle velocity required when it comes out of the cannon during a fire mission,” Sidman explained. “With the new ERCA tube and the new propellants, the environment is much more violent than the older self- propelled howitzers, so we needed to figure out a new alloy and figure out how to weld that alloy onto existing shells, so we could continue testing. We had huge success with that, it was really about stakeholder management and leadership.”
Te best part of his job, according to Sidman, is the team. “I love working with Army civilians and contractors. I spoke at a team member’s retirement recently, and I told them, ‘I don’t see any difference between your service and mine.’ Not everyone can be active duty, whether because of the physical demands or anything else, but these civilians and contractors are all still serving the nation, and it’s an incredible honor to work with them,” he said. “I just really appreciate this side of the Army and I feel so honored to be a part of it. Ever since getting here, I’ve loved it.”
What comes next for Sidman? He has a few more professional and educational goals in mind, but one thing is for sure—he has nothing left to prove.
— ELLEN SUMMEY
https://asc.ar my.mil
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