UNIT: Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical
POSITION: Chief Engineer, Command Post Computing Environment, Technical Management Division; Branch Chief, Software Applications and Common Operating Environment
AAC MEMBER SINCE: 2005
TOTAL YEARS OF ARMY SERVICE: 11
AWARDS: DOD Top Five Systems Engineering Award from the Systems Engineering Directorate within the Office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering and the Systems Engineering Division of the National Defense Industrial Association; Best of Visions Award from Product Development & Management Association; Civilian Excellence Award, CECOM Research, Development and Engineering Center; Quality of Service Increase, CERDEC Science and Technology Communications Directorate; DA Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (2); DA Commander’s Achievement Medal.
EDUCATION: Ph.D. in systems engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology; M.S. in engineering management and graduate certificate in management of information systems, New Jersey Institute of Technology; B.S. in computer science, Rutgers University. Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified.
Portia Crowe monitors events at the C4ISR Systems Integration Laboratory (CSIL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The CSIL includes a battalion tactical operations center with integrated mission command and situational awareness systems for risk reduction before the Army’s semi-annual Network Integration Evaluation events.
What do you do and why is it important to the warfighter?
I directly architect and engineer prioritized warfighting capabilities—intelligence, mission command, aviation, fires—for future Army command post units, including simplifying physical hardware, architecting common services and ensuring that capabilities provide operational benefits to the Soldier. I also provide software architecture guidance to the program managers (PMs) who develop applications in the command post to ensure that the capabilities run over the network optimally, which allows for less disruption and better quality of service to the warfighter.
My work makes it easier for warfighters to use our systems to do their jobs more efficiently while reducing the training burden. It also provides the commander and staff elements with enhanced situational awareness so that they can spend their time not fighting the systems but fighting the fight.
Portia Crowe discusses mission command capabilities in the CSIL at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
What are some of the milestones you’ve achieved?
I have used the system engineering processes I’ve learned to redevelop an Army legacy standalone system to a Web-based, embedded system in nine months, meeting Congressional requirements for Army personnel monthly reporting of 95 percent—up from 73 percent. I have also used my training to develop more detailed processes for PEO C3T for software and system engineering, which allow for multiple PMs to develop, train and field their capabilities more efficiently.
What is your greatest satisfaction in being part of the Army Acquisition Corps?
My greatest satisfaction in being part of the Army Acquisition Corps is working as a team in a highly collaborative environment in which we can make a difference each and every day. Leadership is flexible and willing to make changes where necessary: They have allowed me to implement my doctoral work on agile systems engineering, which has led to enhancing team dynamics and decision-making to get more capabilities delivered in less time—something we plan to demonstrate at the next Network Integration Evaluation.
Being a part of the Army Acquisition Corps and embracing its principles have taught me to be open to change and innovation, to drive toward customer success, and developed my skills to become a subject matter expert to program executive offices, ASA(ALT) and other DOD elements.
In celebration of the silver anniversary of the Army Acquisition Corps (AAC), Access is publishing “25 for 25” — twenty-five profiles of members of the AAC across the Army Acquisition Workforce. These profiles provide unique insight into the variety and importance of the work done by the AAC every day.
