COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support, Project Manager Force Projection
TITLE: Information technology specialist – SharePoint/Microsoft developer
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 2
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Practitioner in engineering and technical management
EDUCATION: B.S. in chemistry, Mumbai University

Sapna “Sona” Patil

by Cheryl Marino

Outside of work, Sapna “Sona” Patil’s friends and colleagues know she’s passionate about building things. Woodworking in her spare time, she can craft anything from outdoor tables and chairs to jewelry stands and daybeds. At work, she’s also known as a dedicated builder, but of a different sort—building applications and sites for Project Manager (PM) Force Projection—designing the critical infrastructure used by Soldiers in the field.

“They [friends and colleagues] think I have the coolest job. One of our products is developing bridges that can be carried from point to point and then be unfolded to help Soldiers to cross over waters. Without us, those things would never get to the field,” she said. “I am genuinely so proud of the work that we do by helping our Soldiers.”

As an informational technology (IT) specialist and SharePoint administrator and Microsoft developer for the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combat Service Support (PEO CS&CSS), Patil maintains, processes and troubleshoots computer systems. She is also a PowerApps and Power Automate developer responsible for analyzing, troubleshooting and evaluating technology issues and working behind the scenes on systems to ensure that design plans and projects become reality. It’s basically Patil’s job to ensure that all systems are running smoothly so that the Soldiers get what they need, when they need it.

“As a SharePoint developer, I create websites and applications based on the requirements and needs of our user/Soldiers. As part of the Army Acquisition Workforce there are so many different opportunities to learn, knowing that my efforts are supporting Soldiers and the Army,” she said.

After Patil’s previous IT job required that she relocate to Atlanta, she parted ways with the company and took some time to consider other opportunities. After a couple months and a desire to “get back out there,” she came across a SharePoint developer job opening at PEO CS&CSS. The position was offered to her shortly after her interview.

Aside from being a great fit with her skills and experience, Patil said there were some additional reasons why she accepted the position. The warm welcome that she received was a great first impression, and a good indication of what the work climate would be once she became more acclimated to her position. “The people I met through this position were helpful and made me feel welcome,” she said. “They helped me with my onboarding, made sure I had lunch with them so I didn’t feel left out, and they showed me where Starbucks was located.” Patil said that was pretty key, considering Starbucks is her favorite coffee place. Another reason, she said, was because of her son, 1st Lt. Samir Patil, who had joined the Army as an infantry officer. She wanted to be in a related field where she would do her part for the Army, helping to enable Soldier readiness.

One of her first projects after joining the Army Acquisition Workforce was creating a site for an employee portal for CSS. This streamlining effort laid the groundwork for eliminating more than 200 spreadsheets and back-and-forth emails, boosting efficiency and saving time.

“Prior to this, employee data was not structured. It was all over the site. One of my colleagues asked if we could create a site where employees have all the important information located in one portal.” And that’s exactly what she did. “This assignment helped me get recognized and show others the potential I had in building, taking up new challenges and seeing them through,” she said. “At this point I am pursing what I really like to do—gathering requirements and building websites.” She said the tool was first adopted by her organization, and then forwarded to PEO Ground Combat Systems to be implemented by them.

She also became a chief information officer (CIO) mentor, which provided her the opportunity to meet new people and expand her network to the other PEOs. “I got to meet a spectrum of groups with different areas of focus,” Patil said. As a mentor, she met with the cyber team and worked with the IT lead on help desk projects. She even took risk management framework training so she could better understand part of what the cyber team does. “Overall, this experience has helped me strengthen my professional network and relationships along with a firsthand understanding of the many aspects of a CIO job through the rotation. I learned a great deal about cross-functional teams and how to effectively manage projects within our organization.”

The projects she has taken on, along with valuable training, have built upon her existing experience.

“The latest career program I was involved in was learning Microsoft Power Suites. I started learning it in 2022 using Udemy, which helped me a lot,” she said. “The classes I took helped me understand how to create a Power App and Power Automate. I would highly recommend taking courses through Udemy due to the self-paced learning setup. It’s a great learning tool.” The other program she took was Carnegie Mellon’s Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning course, which motivated her to use Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in a few of the applications she is building. RPA is a process that uses automation technologies to perform repetitive office tasks like data extraction, filling out forms or moving files. “By doing this I was able to eliminate human error and optimize the process,” she said.

To Patil, it’s all about building on your experience and implementing what you learn along the way, then sharing that knowledge with others. “I was a mentor to an Army Contracting Center user from Alabama, and my main advice to her was to try and learn new tools as much as possible,” she said. “The more knowledge you acquire, the more you can help our Soldiers/clients. Other tips I provided were to always use Microsoft One Note to document all the information and new details that you gather. It’s always best to have everything easily accessible when you need it.” Lastly, she said, never procrastinate: This can result in challenges down the road.

“Respect and communication are the two most important things in any job,” she said. “If you do these two things you have almost done 50% of your job.” She said she will always respect everyone no matter who they are, and that you should always be learning and bettering yourself as a person. “Just because you know the work well doesn’t mean you should stop trying to improve yourself as an employee. Listen to people’s opinions, use your own strengths to help them with their projects and problems, and learn what they have to teach you.”