A CALMER CAREER APPROACH


Stressful times call for calming measures. And throughout his Army career, Chad Marshall has found that keeping calm in stressful situations may not always be the easiest thing to do, but it’s typically the most beneficial.


“While it is sometimes hard to achieve, I find that if I can remain calm during trying times, it has a positive impact on my team and can avoid unnecessary escalation of detri- mental consequences,” he said. Tough it’s hard to nail down the most important lesson he’s learned, he is often reminded how important the ability to remain calm is during stressful or irritating situations. “Tere are instances where situations are tense, such as high stakes meetings or negotiations, where being able to de-escalate harmful conflict can lead to significant progress.”


CHAD J. MARSHALL, PH.D.


COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Technical Center


TITLE: Supervisory program and manage- ment analyst


YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 15 YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE: 4


DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Advanced in program management, DOD contracting professional


EDUCATION: Ph.D. in business administra- tion, University of South Alabama; MBA, Columbia College; Bachelor of General Studies, Columbia College


AWARDS: 2021 National Defense Industrial Base – Tennessee Valley Chapter Management Award; U.S. Army Civilian Service Commendation Medal (2020); U.S. Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (2018)


Marshall serves as the Army acquisition career management advocate (ACMA) for U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) and the chief of personnel management at USASMDC Technical Center, supervising a diverse team of knowledge workers (e.g., developers, specialists and analysts) responsible for recruitment, personnel management, performance management, student programs and outreach, and associ- ated programs and information technology systems.


Additionally, he serves as program manager for the USASMDC Technical Center Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratory Personnel Demonstration Project (Lab Demo), responsible for the planning, implementation, monitoring and overall management of the Lab Demo program (an alternative personnel system specifically tailored to DOD laboratories to meet their unique challenges).


“My greatest satisfaction is ensuring leadership has the authorities and scientists and engineers needed for the technical center to provide cutting-edge science and technol- ogy, focused on the specific capabilities needed to directly support the Army’s tactical mission, develop small satellite and directed energy components and technologies, and support missile defense system testing,” he said.


Marshall said he entered the Army Acquisition Workforce before even having a basic understanding of what Army acquisition represented. “My first acquisition position was a management support specialist under the old DAWIA [Defense Acquisition Work- force Improvement Act] purchasing certification supporting the DEVCOM [U.S. Army Combat Capabilites and Development Command] Aviation and Missile Center.” In this role, he was a government purchase card cardholder (training cardholder and ordering official) supporting the lab.


With all the many job transitions throughout his Army career—both military and civil- ian service—he said career opportunities really started opening up when he joined the Army Acquisition Workforce. During his time in the military, he transitioned from a combat engineer to a Patriot crewmember to the military police. As a civilian, he started as a security guard and police officer and then transitioned to the roles of secretary;


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Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2024


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