by Cheryl Marino
FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Jan. 14, 2025) — Efficiency is not a straight line of time and motion. It has many tangents: Costs, open system architecture, contracting, sustainability, supply chain management, modularity and more. The Army is revolutionizing efficiencies across these areas focusing on cost effectiveness, longevity and adaptability. According to AL&T Editor-in-Chief, Nelson McCouch III, “By integrating these elements, the Army aims to build a resilient, agile and sustainable acquisition framework.”
Several efficiency initiatives the Army Acquisition Workforce is undertaking are covered in detail in the winter issue. Read how:
- The ICE program is seeking solutions to challenges experienced by the U.S. military in the extreme cold in BREAKING THE ICE.
- Find out how the Critical Equipment Decontamination System (CEDS) program has completed a key testing activity, highlighting the progress of a novel transportable decontamination capability in BETTER OFF WITH CEDS.
- Learn more about a foundational, universal approach for building a sustainable and agile acquisition workforce in MANAGE THE LOAD.
- DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center continues miniaturizing chemical agent destruction technology. Don’t miss MINIATURE BUT MIGHTY.
- Learn how a camo net invention was developed by Soldiers, for Soldiers in the field in A SOLDIER-LED SOLUTION.
- In EFFICIENCY BUYS FLEXIBILITY, find out how the HMS Next-Gen Radio Platform Integration team executed a digital transformation.
- The Army’s new fires software will be user-friendly and Soldier-driven. Get the details in AFATDS GETS AN UPGRADE.
As always, Army AL&T relies on contributions from you, members of the Army Acquisition Workforce and our stakeholders. For more information on how to publish an article in Army AL&T magazine, go to https://asc.army.mil/web/publications/army-alt-submissions to see our writers’ guidelines, upcoming deadlines and themes.
Army AL&T Winter 2025 Issue
FROM THE AAE: EFFICIENT WORKFORCE, EFFICIENT ARMY
The Army Acquisition Workforce drives the effectiveness and efficiency of the Army.
THEME
BREAKING THE ICE
To assist in efforts to enhance the U.S. military’s capabilities and safety in the Arctic, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched the Ice Control for cold Environments (ICE) program to develop solutions for extreme cold weather DOD operational challenges by discovering and optimizing biologically sourced or inspired molecules to enable tuned inhibition or nucleation of ice crystallization, propagation and adhesion.
BETTER OFF WITH CEDS
The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) is working with partners to develop a capability called the Critical Equipment Decontamination System (CEDS) that will rapidly decontaminate CBRN-compromised equipment in forward, austere, hostile and denied areas to support extended operational mission cycles and reconstitute combat capabilities.
FACES OF THE FORCE: BRIANNA BAZILIO
Grace to learn.
MANAGE THE LOAD
The Army Acquisition Enterprise is well situated to realize transformation in contact by developing an agile—and by extension sustainable—workforce. ASA(ALT)) is situated to achieve this objective through the current manpower analysis across acquisition formations. By applying an iterative, agile methodology to promote continuous improvement processes, flexibility and adaptability in manpower management can be achieved. Better still, it truly puts people first.
MINIATURE BUT MIGHTY
DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center is addressing the new threat of the illicit production of chemical agent by rogue nations and non-state actors, by making agent destruction technology smaller and thereby easier to transport, set up, operate and remove.
A SOLDIER-LED SOLUTION
The Marne Innovation Center at Fort Stewart, Georgia partnered with the University of Florida to develop the starting point for a new camo net prototype invention called the Vehicle-Integrated Camouflage System (VICS)—an adaptive ground-based mount for an armored vehicle that cuts down the amount of time and manpower used for set-up by half.
FACES OF THE FORCE: SGT. 1st CLASS DONALD PIPER
Always hit the save button.
EFFICIENCY BUYS FLEXIBILITY
Digital transformation is a key component to the Army’s modernization strategy, and it is now playing a vital role in ensuring Hand-Held, Manpack and Small Form-Fit (HMS) Next-Gen radios continue to deploy across the entire Army vehicle portfolio. The Platform Integration team for the Army’s HMS are committed to managing efforts down to the single configuration item to ensure that every Soldier has access to the radio he or she needs, when they need it.
AFATDS GETS AN UPGRADE
The need for quick, effective and intuitive software that will help Soldiers execute fires is crucial to a unit’s ability to fight in fast-moving and large-scale combat operations. Which is why the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS), the Army’s 30-year-old software for fires, is getting an upgrade. The new software, dubbed as AFATDS Artillery Execution Suite (AXS), will be intuitive and data-centric, allowing for quicker upgrades and a more adaptable system with the incorporation of Soldier feedback and a partnership of development with operational units.
FEATURE ARTICLES
PREPARE, DEPLOY AND SUSTAIN
Transforming medical logistics to sustain survivability.
FACES OF THE FORCE: BRITTANY WIELAND
It’s not what you think.
NEW OBJECTIVES
CECOM ARAT hosts a tri-service working group to establish key stakeholders, facilitate the sharing of resources and improve overall collaboration within the community.
FACES OF THE FORCE: SGT. 1st CLASS RYAN D. JOHNSON
Be a sponge.
COMMENTARY
CHANGING CULTURE
The goal of the Army’s Procurement Management Review (PMR) is to evoke change, starting with the PMR process itself.
WORKFORCE
FROM THE DACM: A SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE
The DACM is committed to providing targeted learning to keep the workforce’s skills sharp.
RANKING HIGH
USAASC is recognized as one of the ‘Top Five Best Places to Work in the Army,’ reinforcing its commitment to acquisition excellence throughout its workforce.
IN SELECT COMPANY
Acquisition professionals say the Centralized Selection List process not only gave them a career boost but made them better leaders.
FACES OF THE FORCE: KATHRYN “CALETTE” CHAMNESS
Don’t Be Outworked.
A UNIQUE APPROACH
How 90 days with Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics helped an acquisition professional build an innovative foundation of knowledge.
CAREER NAVIGATOR: TAKE YOUR REST
The workforce is familiar with a few mental health maintenance tools, but for true resilience, seven types of rest are best.
PIONEERING NEW PATHS
Chris Young’s groundbreaking direct commission into Army acquisition.
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE
New 2024 inductees enter the Army Acquisition Hall of Fame.
ON THE MOVE
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