By Tara Clements
FORT BELVOIR, Va. – Twenty-four civilian acquisition professionals were named as the next Defense Acquisition University – Senior Service College Fellowship (DAU-SSCF) class for 2016-2017 as a result of a review board concluding last month.
The board is convened by the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center (USAASC) and administered by the Office of the Director, Acquisition Career Management, or Army DACM Office. The purpose of the board is to ensure the best qualified civilian applicants from across the defense acquisition workforce are selected for the 10-month education and leader development program.
“The board was very competitive—and that’s a good thing! We’re looking for the best talent in our community to grow and develop our next leaders and this program is one of our signature leader development opportunities,” said Kristine Faria, an acquisition education and training manager who oversees the program.
Some of the commonalities between those who were selected included strong senior rater potential evaluations, or SRPEs; a strong post-utilization statement, and a strong statement of interest from the applicant, according to Faria.
“This year’s applicant pool was particularly robust, with many strong applicants and a 25% increase in the number of applications over the previous year, said Faria.
For the last three years, the number of selected applicants has hovered around 25, with anywhere from 5 to 10 Fellows at each of the three DAU-SSCF locations.
The fellowship is conducted by DAU at Huntsville, Alabama; Warren, Michigan and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, with the purpose of preparing civilians for senior positions including product and project managers, program executive officer (PEO) and other key acquisition leader positions.
Along with executive leader courses, the fellowship comes with credit for the DAU program manager course (PMT 401) and the option to obtain a Master’s degree. In addition, those enrolled after 2012 also receive Military Education Level 1 (MEL-1) credit, making SSCF the first approved civilian-only Army senior service college.
The fellowship marked its 10th anniversary this year graduating more than 200 AAW professionals since its creation in 2006. For eligibility, application requirements and more, go to the DAU-SSCF page.
USAASC congratulates the following acquisition professionals for their selection:
Lareina Adams, PEO Enterprise Information Systems
Paul Coles II, PEO Combat Support & Combat Service Support
Stephen Conley, Army Test and Evaluation Command
Nathaniel Curry, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Michael Danhires, PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors
Brian Debiase, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command
Michael Fraley, U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command
John Gates, U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command
Shawn Gresham, PEO Simulation, Training & Instrumentation
Jerry Harper, PEO Command Control Communications-Tactical
Daniel Hernandez, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
Cheryl Hickman, Army Contracting Command
Angela Jones, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command
Scott Kelley, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command
Manfred Little II, U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Kathleen Lytle, PEO Combat Support & Combat Service Support
Philip Minor, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Graciano Nikolich, PEO Command Control Communications-Tactical
Noel Paschal, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command
Ruby Price, Headquarters, Army Materiel Command
Jonathan Reiner, PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors
James Shillingford, Defense Logistics Agency
Jennifer Stephenson, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
Chad Stocker, PEO Ground Combat Systems
