By Susan L. Follett
WASHINGTON (April 25, 2019)—If you’re looking for a talented, innovative and motivated group of leaders, the Army Acquisition Workforce is a good place to start. And at the top of the list might be this year’s winners of the Army Acquisition Excellence in Leadership Awards—a handful of groups and individuals that represent the best in leadership that the Army Acquisition Workforce has to offer. Among the multiple award winners were the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Ground Combat Systems (GCS), which received three awards, and the PEO for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (C3T), which received two.
Elizabeth Miller, product manager for Vehicle Protection Systems within the PEO GCS Project Manager for Stryker Brigade Combat Team, was named Defense Export and Cooperation Professional of the Year. PEO GCS logistics assistant Michelle Link was named Logistician of the Year, and the PEO GCS-led 15th Armored Brigade Combat Team received the Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year Award for the O-5 Level. The team included product office representatives from the PEO for Ammunition (now the Joint PEO for Armaments and Ammunition), the PEO for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, PEO C3T and the PEO for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (STRI). Collectively, they developed, implemented and completed a three-phase operation to convert the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division from an infantry brigade combat team to an armored brigade combat team in FY18.
Tara Claussen, product lead for Tactical Network Initialization and Configuration within PEO C3T’s Project Lead for Network Enablers, was named Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year, and Breck Tarr, product lead for Common Hardware Systems within PEO C3T’s Project Lead for Network Enablers, was named Acquisition Support Professional of the Year.
Lt. Col. Matthew Clark, joint product manager for Chemical Defense Pharmaceuticals for the Joint PEO for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), received the award for the Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year at the O-5 Level. Clark increased the number of countermeasures available to military and civilian personnel, and his decision to terminate development of a product that was not successfully progressing saved at least $15 million.
Col. Richard Haggerty, project manager for Instrumentation, Targets, Threat Simulators and Special Operations Forces Training Systems within PEO STRI, was named the Project Management/Project Director Office Professional of the Year at the O-6 Level. He led the Special Interest Persistent Cyber Training Environment program, spearheading a strategy that delivered the first prototype training platform in July 2018, only 12 months after the initial funding was received.
For more information on the awards, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/acquisition-awards/. The full list of winners is:
Acquisition Support Professional of the Year Award: Breck Tarr, Project Lead Network Enablers, PEO C3T
Thomas E. “Tom” Mullins Business Operations Professional of the Year: Chary Isabel Hernandez, Project Manager for Combat Ammunition Systems, PEO Ammunition (now the Joint PEO for Armaments and Ammunition)
Defense Export and Cooperation Professional of the Year: Elizabeth Miller, Product Manager for Vehicle Protection Systems, Project Manager for Stryker Brigade Combat Team, PEO GCS
Honorable Dr. Claude Bolton Jr. Engineering and Systems Integration Professional of the Year: Tara Claussen, product lead for Tactical Network Initialization and Configuration within PEO C3T’s Project Lead for Network Enablers, PEO C3T
Logistician of the Year: Michelle Link, Assistant Program Executive Officer for Logistics, PEO GCS
Science and Technology Professional of the Year: Jason L. Matheney, Project Management Office for Aircraft Survivability Equipment, PEO for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors
Product Management/Product Director Office Professional of the Year (O-5 Level): Lt. Col. Matthew Clark, Joint Product Manager for Chemical Defense Pharmaceuticals, JPEO-CBRND
Product Management/Product Director Office Team of the Year (O-5 Level): 15th Armored Brigade Combat Team, PEO GCS
Project Management/Project Director Office Professional of the Year (O-6 Level): Col. Richard Haggerty, Project Manager for Instrumentation, Targets, Threat Simulators and Special Operations Forces Training Systems, PEO STRI
Project Management/Project Director Office Team of the Year (O-6 level): Multi-National Aviation Special Project Office, PEO Aviation
Also showcased at the ceremony were the winning authors and honorable mentions in the 2018 Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing. Their selections in the categories of acquisition reform, future operations, innovation and lessons learned were determined by our distinguished panel of judges.
The winners and honorable mentions are:
Category: Acquisition Reform
Winner: Middle Tier Acquisition Using Overlapping, Iterative and Incremental Development: A Faster Way to Combat Opioid Exposure
Authors: Col. Matthew G. Clark, Ph.D., Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense
Hannah Feldman supports the MCS communications team as a public affairs specialist as an employee of Patricio Enterprises Inc.
Honorable Mention: The Innovation of Going Fast!
Author: David M. Riel, Defense Acquisition University
Category: Future Operations
Winner: Organizing for the Future
Author: Lt. Col. Kyle McFarland, 418th Contracting Support Brigade.
Honorable Mention: Information Overmatch: How Information Dominance Will Win Our Nation’s Wars
Author: Matthew A. Horning, U.S. Army Futures Command’s Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team.
Category: Innovation
Winner: Using Warfighter Feedback to Improve Acquisition: There’s an App for That
Author: Michael J. Ravnitzky, Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington
Honorable Mention: Designing Systems to the Skillsets We Already Have
Author: Maj. Mark Scott, Small Satellite Integration and Infrastructure Division
Category: Lessons Learned
Winner: Lessons Learned: Collaborative Process Reduces Justification and Approval Processing Time by 44 Percent
Authors: Rachel Capaldi, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command
Joe O’Connell, U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) – Warren,
Honorable Mention: The “LLC” of Acquisition Streamlining: Lessons for Accelerating Product Development
Authors: Col. Matthew G. Clark, Ph.D., JPEO-CBRND
Dr. Renae Malek, JPEO-CBRND
Maj. Andrea Mountney, JPEO-CBRND
Not all of the Major General Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing winners were photographed. (U.S. Army photos by Darrell Hudson)
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