FELLOWS MEET VIRTUALLY FOR ANNUAL DAU-SSCF SENIOR LEADER FORUM
by Jacqueline M. Hames and Rebecca Wright
WASHINGTON (Feb. 18, 2026)—The Warfighting Acquisition University Senior Service College Fellowship (SSCF) Senior Leader Forum was held virtually, January 29-30. An enormous snow and ice storm that covered most of the eastern seaboard prevented fellows from convening at the Pentagon for the forum, but it did not prevent the enthusiasm with which they greeted senior leadership during the Microsoft Teams event.
The SSCF program is a 10-month educational senior leadership developmental opportunity sponsored by the Army Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office. It is conducted in conjunction with the Warfighting Acquisition University, and its purpose is to provide leadership and acquisition training to prepare senior level civilians for leadership roles.
Several senior leaders spoke over the course of the forum, providing insights on management techniques, acquisition reform and the ins and outs of day-to-day leadership.
Ronald R. Richardson, director of acquisition career management, kicked off the event with opening remarks to the fellows. “As a modernization enterprise, our job is to ensure that no American Soldier is ever in a fair fight anywhere,” he said. “They have the best equipment, they can reach the farthest with the best situational awareness, best protection, and all of those things—that’s what we owe our Soldiers, and we owe it to them as soon as we can get it to them.”
Richardson reviewed the recent Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) and how it relates to developing the acquisition workforce during his remarks, explaining the four pillars of acquisition reform. He emphasized that leaders would have to underwrite the risks acquisition professionals take to get equipment to Soldiers quickly; perfect is the enemy of good enough.
Lt. Gen. Robert Collins, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, echoed that sentiment during his remarks. “Many of us grew up in an environment where you would tend to ‘develop’ first, and then only ‘adopt’ a commercial capability as an alternative—that model has been completely reversed. With the rapid pace of commercial tech, we must adopt first, then modify second, and only develop when no other option” Collins said. He also elaborated that establishing accountability, underwriting risks and maintaining the speed of reform that the Army needs is a tough job. Collins also advised the fellows to take care of their people and also make time for themselves. “You’ve got to take care of yourself because these jobs are taxing, we’re counting on each and every one of you as vital members of the team over the long haul,” he said.
Sgt. Maj. Robert Haynie, sergeant major to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, reiterated the importance of the acquisition workforce. He described working in roles earlier in his career, not fully recognizing that there was a whole acquisition and contracting community behind the scenes making things happen. “Now I see the incredible workforce that was behind us making that happen,” said Haynie, while also conveying the importance of modernization in Army acquisition. “We are changing not just because we were told to with ATI. We are changing not just because DoW [Department of War] wanted to make some new PEO [program executive office] structure. We’re changing to deliver better performing products to Soldiers.”
Jesse Tolleson, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, continued the topic of acquisition reform and transformation. He explained that the recent restructuring of the new portfolio acquisition executives (PAEs) improves alignment with acquisition professionals by providing clearer guidance and stronger leadership. “They’ll [PAEs] be involved in aligning their requirements and helping to develop the acquisition and contracting strategy, as well as ensuring that there’s alignment between S&T [science and technology] all the way out to sustainment and life cycle support,” said Tolleson.
Tolleson wrapped up the event with taking questions from the fellows followed by closing remarks. “From the acquisition community side of things and probably most of the Army too, we’ve always been focused on getting the right outcome to the Soldier … and as you into the fleet, go back out into the force and you enter into leadership positions, I encourage you to work with your teams, empower your teams and just help us make this transformation a huge success,” said Tolleson. “You all are the feature leaders that we’re going to depend on really to make this transformation that we’re trying to undertake here.”
For more information, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/career-development/programs/defense-acquisition-university-senior-service-college.
JACQUELINE M. HAMES is an editor with Behind the Frontlines. She has 15 years of writing, editing and reporting experience with the federal government, and has a B.A. in creative writing from Christopher Newport University.
REBECCA WRIGHT is a writer and editor at the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center’s Director of Acquisition Career Management Office at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Before USAASC, she served as an explosive ordnance disposal technical writer at NSWC Indian Head. She has more than 15 years of experience writing and editing for the DoW and the U.S. Department of Justice.
