By Tara Clements and Bob Coultas
FORT BELVOIR, Va. (April 22, 2014) – Eight members of the 2012 Competitive Development Group/Army Acquisition Fellowship (CDG/AAF) were recognized at a graduation ceremony here hosted by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Procurement, Harry Hallock, concluding their three-year, career-broadening experience across various Army acquisition positions and missions.
Hallock advised the graduates to keep a good “balance” through their acquisition career as their leadership responsibilities increase. “I think people who stay in this job honestly, truly understand it’s a calling. We’re supporting Soldiers… we’re providing them equipment and services to help them in wartime and to come back alive. How much bigger can you get than that? But, it can become all-consuming. Keep a good balance.”
CDG/AAF is a three-year program designed to develop future Army acquisition leaders by offering selected applicants expanded training, leadership, experiential and other career development opportunities. Since its inception in 1997, the program has provided board-selected individuals with essential leadership training and developmental assignments to leverage opportunities for future selection into critical acquisition and key leadership positions.
“The [CDG/AAF] program offers a ‘foot-in-the-door’ opportunity unlike anything else I have seen since joining the civilian service,” said Stephen Roberts in an email interview. Because of training course commitments, he was the only one of the eight graduates unable to attend the ceremony.
“The program allowed me the opportunity to serve in two assistant product manager roles, a deputy product manager role, and as an ASA(ALT) [assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology] Department of the Army systems coordinator for two significant Army air and missile defense portfolio programs. I absolutely would not have received all of these experiential opportunities had I not been selected for the program,” he added.
The eight fellows were selected for this opportunity based on several criteria including potential to become strategic thinkers and leaders with integrated skill sets by the end of their three-year journey.
“I now have a strategic perspective of not only the Army, but the Department of Defense as a whole, that I did not even have a hint of prior to the program,” said Roberts.
And while the most memorable moments for each graduate differs, one consistent trend stands out as a significant contributor to their development—the practical experience they wouldn’t have otherwise had in their pre-program positions.
Graduating class of 2012 From left, Matthew Whitworth, Huntsville, Alabama; Adam Morse, National Capital Region; Karen Short, Huntsville; Chenxi Dong-O’Malley, Natick, Massachusetts; Aladrian Wetzel; Aberdeen, Maryland; Craig Riedel; Warren, Michigan; and Timothy Hoy, Aberdeen. (Photo by Bob Coultas U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center).
“My first assignment as the Soldier protection assistant product manager under Product Manager Soldier Protective Equipment/Program Manager Soldier Individual Protective Equipment, [the Program Executive Office for] Soldier, was my most memorable experience by far,” said graduate Chenxi Dong-O’Malley. “It was the most intense and stressful assignment, but it provided me the most of amount of experiences from all different perspectives,” she added.
Dong-O’Malley noted that the assignment provided hands-on acquisition experiences including requirements development, working with the science and technology community, contract establishments, to how to be a leader of an acquisition team and network with headquarters, Department of the Army organizations to develop acquisition milestone requirements.
And from the lens of building future leaders among the group, building technical skills isn’t the only take-away. “…the fellowship taught me and helped me build confidence to seek mentorships from senior leaders whom I have observed and learned how to think strategically and how to ask the right questions,” said Dong-O’Malley.
After 36 months of classes, practical experience, institutional training and executive leadership training experiences across the Army acquisition community, the fellows received their certificates of graduation ready to apply their experiences to become future leaders within the workforce. While the program does not guarantee a promotion, all graduates are currently pursuing positions of greater responsibility.
“Whether the program sped my ability to get a promotion is debatable,” said Roberts. “However, the experience/training I received, by getting out of the functional stovepipe world I lived in as a Department of the Army civilian engineer, expanded my ability to both think critically and strategically to a level that I do not think would have been attainable via a different opportunity offered by the Army.”
Newly graduated CDG/AAF Fellow Matthew Whitworth is presented his diploma by Joan Sable, Chief, Army Acquisition Human Capital Initiatives Division, U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center and DASA(P) Harry Hallock.
The next class of eight fellows have been selected, set to begin their CDG/AAF journey this next month and end in the spring of 2018. As for words of advice from the program’s most recent graduates: make the most of the challenge.
To that, Roberts added, “Do not waste this opportunity. Make the choice to do whatever is in both your and the Army’s best interest and make the opportunities count.”
Dong-O’Malley recommended that participants “take every chance to network with your peers and get on the calendar of your senior leaders and learn from others’ experiences and build your own experiences.”
CDG/AAF Year Group 15 inductees:
- Scott Brady, Medical Command, Ft. Detrick, Maryland
- Roger Gray, Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command, Huntsville, Alabama
- Kenyatta Juniel, Program Executive Office (PEO) Combat Support & Combat Service Support (CS&CSS), Warren, Michigan
- Natasha Owens, Program Executive Officer (PEO) Soldier, Picatinny, New Jersey
- Rachel Overman, Program Executive (PEO) STRI, Orlando, Florida
- Charles Parson, U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, Warren
- Anthony Taylor, Program Executive Office (PEO) Command Control Communication-Tactical (C3T), Aberdeen, Maryland
- Matthew Warner, Program Executive Office (PEO) Combat Support & Combat Service Support (CS&CSS), Warren
Guest speaker Harry Hallock, DASA(P) listens to opening remarks along with fellow guests, at the CDG/AAF YG 12 graduation ceremony April 22 at Fort Belvoir.
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