COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI)
TITLE: Assistant program executive officer – project support
YEARS OF SERVICE IN WORKFORCE: 32
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Practitioner in engineering and technical management
EDUCATION: B.S. in electronics engineering, George Mason University
AWARDS: Meritorious Civilian Service Medal (May 2021); Civilian Service Commendation Medal (July 2019); Achievement Medal for Civilian Service (Aug. 2018); Commanders Award for Civilian Service (Jan. 2010)

Robert Miller

by Holly DeCarlo-White

With more than three decades of DOD civilian service and counting, Robert Miller has learned that “the development of great people is our highest priority as managers.” Miller advocates for people daily in his current role, where he is responsible for leading and managing the technical, financial and acquisition logistics workforce consisting of over 200 employees within the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI).

“I recruit, develop and mentor the PEO’s employees across the spectrum of experience, including newly hired interns, midcareerists and individuals late in their career. I ensure that the PEO STRI project managers are provided the most qualified workforce to support the development of complex testing and training systems,” Miller said. “In addition, I manage the PEO Talent Management Office that ensures that PEO STRI acquires, onboards, develops, sustains and effectively transitions the workforce to achieve the PEO STRI mission and vision.”

“The individuals in my division not only ensure that Soldiers receive the most effective realistic testing and training systems, but they also make the Army and government a smart buyer of the complicated technical systems the Army purchases with taxpayer dollars,” he said. “People are most surprised by the need for acquisition professionals within DOD. They generally believe military equipment is simply purchased from a catalog and delivered, like the simplistic buyer-seller transaction that most people experience when purchasing a vehicle,” he said. “When I explain to them that most acquisition professionals are acquiring items that begin as a vision from a Soldier or senior military leader and hasn’t been ‘invented’ yet, they are amazed.” Miller added that when he further describes the complexities of contracting, technology development, system development, testing, fielding and sustaining the equipment, “the light comes on and they understand the complex job executed by an acquisition professional.”

“My greatest satisfaction being in the Army Acquisition Workforce is the opportunity to apply my knowledge of engineering and program management to serve the military,” Miller said. “Growing up in a rural town in the Pacific Northwest during the post-Vietnam era, I wasn’t propense to serve in uniform. So being part of the Army Acquisition Workforce allowed me to serve a noble cause even though I missed my opportunity to serve in uniform. Additionally, I was able to provide my unique skill sets for a much longer period, than if I were in uniform.”

Miller began his career as an acquisition professional with the Naval Air System Command right after completing his electronics engineering degree. “From the time I was young I was always fascinated by how things worked, and working as an engineer for the military allowed me to explore my fascination of building things that were more complex than anything I could have imagined,” Miller said. He added that his appreciation for the acquisition workforce was forged after he realized that working in acquisition meant he would have the opportunity to see things from “vision to fielding—a broader spectrum than most of my industry counterparts could see.”

After three years working with the Navy, Miller joined the Army Acquisition Workforce as a project engineer to work on an Army wargame simulator. “This simulator allowed the Army’s most senior warfighters to exercise warfighting tactics, techniques, procedures and strategies on a virtual battlefield that accurately depicted real-world adversaries. The work was appealing because no one had undertaken development of a simulation so large and detailed,” he said. “The opportunity to be a part of something as consequential as my first Army project is still one of the highlights of my career nearly 25 years later.”

Another valuable career point for Miller was a special project where he led a team selecting a contractor for a $2.4 billion enterprise contract for the organization. “It wasn’t the project itself that was important, but it was the time in my career that I worked the special project. I was already a senior leader, and the assignment was at a lower level than my current job,” he said.  “However, the assignment allowed me to take a step back from the strategic level of management and better understand how processes and policies I implemented in my day-to-day job impacted the employees executing the critical business of the organization. The experience was truly enlightening and changed how I execute my position as a senior leader of the organization.”

“I highly recommend that other senior leaders take a step back in their career and really understand how the organization runs on a day-to-day basis and what challenges and barriers employees face,” he said. Miller also regularly speaks with junior personnel regarding careers within the acquisition workforce and civil service. The advice he said he gives most frequently is to take responsibility for your own career. “I have watched many talented workforce members provide huge and valuable contributions to their current program, but they fail to plan for their own career growth. Many times, when they get around to planning their own career, they are lacking many of the competencies their peers have gained through careful career planning,” he said. “So, I advise junior employees to spend time researching opportunities in civil service, setting goals for where they want to go and proactively seek input from supervisors, managers and mentors on how to build the correct competencies to achieve your goals. It seems like a simple concept, but so many people fail to plan.”

The importance of planning carries over to Miller’s personal hobbies as well. “My most recent unique hobby was body flying; a sport that simulates the free-fall portion of sky diving. … It takes lots of planning,” he said. “I tend to plan my new experiences as I have planned my career. I determine what I want to achieve and carefully plan the details to achieve my goals. My family laughs at me because my itinerary for my vacations tends to look like a well-planned business event. I know this might not sound like the most relaxing way to vacation, but the lasting memories of my travels usually include the things that I have carefully planned to experience.”

Miller said he has learned that his greatest legacy at work won’t be the projects or processes he has completed. “My greatest legacy will be the great people I have hired, mentored and trained,” he said. “Over time, projects and processes tend to be replaced, but it’s the creative, critical thinking, flexible people I have left behind that will continue to meet the mission and goals of an ever-evolving organization.”