FORT BELVOIR, Va. (May 5, 2021)—And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for—the announcement of the 2020 ALTies award winners.
Army AL&T magazine, the award-winning publication of the Army acquisition executive, announced today the winners of its annual ALTies awards, honoring the best article, commentary, graphic and photograph that appeared in the magazine in 2020.
“Even a pandemic could not stop the superior stories from flowing in,” said Nelson McCouch III, the editor-in-chief of Army AL&T. “By sharing their expertise and the obstacles they or their organization had to overcome to achieve victory, Army AL&T contributor insights help other programs ‘benchmark’ what works, and potentially bring much needed products to the field that much faster. The ALTies honorees all go above and beyond their daily duties by contributing to Army AL&T. I’m proud to publish their work and produce this magazine for the acquisition community each quarter.”
The 2020 ALTies were awarded in two groups: Editors’ Choice awards, which were selected by Army AL&T’s editors from everything printed in the magazine last year, and the Audience Choice awards, chosen by our readers in two categories, narrowed down by our editors.
AUDIENCE CHOICE
The winner of the Audience Choice award for best article was “The Big Ask,” by John T. Dillard, Col., USA (Ret.), a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The article, which appeared in the Winter 2020 issue, explained how the school upgraded its technical education programs to include a new M.S. degree in systems engineering management.
The winner of the Audience Choice award for best image went to “Can You Hear Me Now?” by Justin Eimers from the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), for his photo that appeared in the article “Rapid Networking.”
EDITORS’ CHOICE
In the Editors’ Choice group, the best article award went to “HACQing for Defense,” by Rajal Ganatra. Her article in the Spring 2020 issue recounted her four-month assignment at the Defense Innovation Unit in California’s Silicon Valley. Runner-up was “Nothing to Sneeze At,” by Dennis Longo of Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, in the Fall 2020 issue. Honorable mention went to “Dialing Up Critical Care,” by Ramin Khalili of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, in the Fall 2020 issue.
The best commentary ALTie went to “Embracing Creative Destruction,” by Dr. Bozena “Bonnie” Berdej of the Joint PEO for Armaments and Ammunition. Her Spring 2020 commentary examined how Army leaders can demonstrate emotional intelligence and better communicate change during a time of creative destruction. The runner-up choice was “Getting to a Win,” by Dr. Charles K. Pickar of the Naval Postgraduate School in the Fall 2020 issue. “The Droids You’re Looking For,” by Thom Hawkins and Ken Lorentzen of PEO C3T in the Summer 2020 issue, won honorable mention.
In the best photo category, the winner was “Solution Wanted,” by Lt. Col. Marc Meeker of International Technology Center – Northern Europe, in his Summer 2020 article “Fielding the Prototype.” Runner-up was “Identifying the Next Target” by David Kamm of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Soldier Center in the Winter 2020 issue. Honorable mention went to “Craftmaster,” by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in the Winter 2020 issue.
The ALTie for best graphic goes to “Turbulent Model,” by the U.S. Army DEVCOM Aviation and Missile Center Helios team in the Winter 2020 issue. Runner-up was “Ready to Fight Tonight,” courtesy of the PEO for Enterprise Information Systems in the Spring 2020 issue. Honorable mention goes to “The Options for Energy,” by the Army’s chief scientist for ground vehicle systems, Dr. David J. Gorsich, and professor of mechanical engineering Dr. André Boehman in their Fall 2020 article “Driving Fuel Choices.”
Your name could be on next year’s ALTies list! Write an article or commentary, or design an ad for your organization, and send it to us at https://asc.army.mil/web/publications/army-alt-submissions/. Your work could boost the profile of your organization while sharing valuable lessons with the community—and a shiny new trophy is a great conversation starter on Zoom calls.
