COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems, Project Lead Future Battle Platforms, Product Manager Robotic Combat Vehicle
TITLE: Assistant product manager
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 2
MILITARY OR CIVILIAN: Military
YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE: 13
EDUCATION: M.S. in systems engineering management, Naval Postgraduate School; B.S. in mechanical engineering, United States Military Academy; Human-System Integration Certificate, Naval Postgraduate School
AWARDS: Bronze Star Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; Air Medal with Combat Device (Numeral 2); Army Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters; Joint Service Achievement Medal; Army Achievement Metal with 2 Oak Leaf Cluster; Valorous Unit Award

Maj. Gregory Griffith

by Holly DeCarlo-White

After 10 years as an aviation officer, including nine deployments, Maj. Gregory Griffith made the switch to the acquisition functional area through the Army’s Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program. “My primary motivation was to be a part of solving the hard capability gap problems, leveraging my operational experience to help field new equipment and capabilities that Soldiers need to retain technological overmatch,” Griffith said. “It has been challenging to learn a new career field but has also been exceptionally interesting and rewarding to get to be a part of a new-start program that is developing a revolutionary new capability that is critical to the Army’s transformation over the next few years. Thus far, I truly enjoy the intellectual stimulation of the work and getting to help solve the hard problem sets that will influence the future of warfare for generations to come.”

Griffith’s current position, as an assistant product manager on the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program, is his first within the acquisition workforce, where he oversees the surrogate prototyping line of effort. “In practical terms, I manage RCV Soldier experimentation, technology maturation, developmental testing and program risk reduction,” he said. “These efforts provide the program early validation of integrated architectures, software capability releases and technology insertions … [and] are critical for both the success of the RCV program of record and for the Army’s larger human-machine integration effort.”

“Other than supporting Soldiers, my greatest satisfaction being a part of the Army Acquisition Workforce is being a part of shaping the future of warfare,” Griffith said. “I wouldn’t have thought it possible for a select few people to have so much influence on how capabilities develop and impact the future of warfare. However, seeing it from the inside now has really opened my eyes to the fact that the products we give Soldiers are the direct result of the leadership, foresight and trade decisions made by key personnel within the requirements and acquisition communities. Even more impressive is how acquisition leaders and technical subject matter experts at the lowest levels are the ones making many of the decisions or recommendations to senior leaders. It is truly impressive and provides me great satisfaction to be empowered, trusted and challenged to lead my line of effort and make decisions that will directly impact the final product we give Soldiers. Talk about an awesome responsibility.”

“People are always surprised by how much technology goes into enabling new warfighting capabilities,” Griffith said. He is proud to be a part of the RCV team providing “revolutionary” new capabilities that will “change the battlefield geometry and improve the survivability and lethality of the Army’s ground maneuver formations.” He added that while it is a lot to try to manage immediate expectations, each piece of technology is important to the RCVs long-term viability and success.

But, he said, the RCV program office can’t do all of this by itself. The team relies heavily on other programs of record and the science and technology community for integration capabilities. “It is truly a team effort and no one organization can succeed in their mission without the support from everybody else,” he said.

While Griffith is still relatively new to the acquisition workforce, he has already found the experience to be valuable for both his professional and personal growth. “The community’s emphasis on education and training is admirable, enabling me to attend graduate school and develop the skill set needed to be an effective acquisition officer,” he said. “As with any Army career, there are an incredible number of opportunities but not enough time to do them all.”

The latest career development Griffith attended was the Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) program from 2020 to 2021 that allowed him to complete his graduate degree while he was transitioning to the acquisition functional area. He said it provided him with the foundation for technical leadership, program management and the application of systems engineering principles to military problem sets that prepared him for his new acquisition career field. “I would highly recommend the ACS program to anybody who has a passion for learning and a career timeline that can support it,” he said.

His advice to fellow acquisition officers or those transitioning is “to take ownership of your career by proactively managing your career timeline, seeking out new opportunities, building a strong network, and developing your interpersonal skills. Each of those things is essential to enabling your career success—whatever you decide that looks like for you.”

Outside of work, Griffith is a family man, a pilot, a designer, a builder, a mountaineer, an athlete and a dedicated civil servant. “Many of these manifest themselves in how I approach work, how I take care of people, and where my strengths and weaknesses are,” he said. For example, he said his love of designing and building things allows him to appreciate the technical work that goes into many of the acquisition programs. Similarly, his “fervent appreciation” for his family—and maintaining some semblance of work-life balance—manifests itself in how he manages schedules, prioritizes tasks and allocates resources.

“One of the most important lessons that I have learned is to not give up ‘good enough’ for ‘perfect,’ ” he said, because perfect doesn’t exist. “Striving for perfection is good, but acknowledging that the perfect conditions, perfect solution or perfect timeline doesn’t exist is important to maintaining efficiency and effectiveness. We need to use the trade space we have, make informed decisions about where we accept risk and focus on delivering capabilities to the warfighter at the speed of relevance. Easy to say, but hard to do.”