PEO EIS BG Burden Hosts First Workforce All Hands

Brigadier General Patrick W. Burden, Program Executive Officer Enterprise Information Systems, held his first All Hands Jan. 11, 2017, at Fort Belvoir.

The two-hour event was BG Burden’s first since assuming the PEO charter in a ceremony Nov. 29 at Fort Belvoir, hosted by Ms. Steffanie Easter, Army Acquisition Executive. Approximately 200 employees attended in person at Thurman Hall, with more than 300 remote EIS employees live streaming to their workstations worldwide.

BG Burden presented overarching Army/ASAALT priorities of Readiness and Future Army, followed by his own strategic priorities, which include: Taking care of Soldiers; efficiencies; an aggressive approach to Cyber defense; resourcing of projects/programs; understanding, helping to shape and executing validated requirements; and delivering capabilities.

“We need to continue to reach out to industry for innovation and expertise,” said BG Burden, “but first, we have to make sure we have the requirements right.”

BG Burden also said that Cyber is of critical importance: “We are actively engaged in developing and deploying defensive cyberspace capabilities to counter Cyber threats.” Other topics in the address included organization updates from the 06-level program managers – who each gave 5-10 minute briefings, hails, farewells and news of promotions – and leadership background and expectations.

Mr. Victor Hernandez, Director of Program Management, and COL Michael E. Sloane, Assistant PEO, both received awards at the ceremony. The All Hands concluded with a question and answer period by the workforce, with topics ranging from telework and credit hours to organizational restructuring and leadership philosophy.

In the address, BG Burden thanked Ms. Terry Watson, Deputy PEO, for her leadership as the Acting PEO for more than a year. “Terry Watson has led this organization seamlessly and with great success through two transitions, in addition to having served as Deputy PEO for more than five years,” he continued. “I join the team in thanking her for her leadership, and I look forward to the work ahead.” Ms. Watson was selected as Acting PEO EIS for a second time in November 2015, having previously served in this role from May to October 2011.

BG Burden also thanked the workforce for their support in briefing him and preparing him as he took the role as PEO, and for their support to the Soldier. BG Burden also reiterated, as he had in the Change of Charter ceremony, that the PEO EIS team was a dedicated workforce with exceptional talent, and thanked everyone for taking the time to attend. Burden plans to hold quarterly All Hands events, with the next scheduled for late spring 2017.

Prior to assuming the charter for PEO EIS, BG Burden was the Deputy PEO Ammunition and Senior Commander at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. Before serving in this leadership role, Burden was the CSL Board Select Project Manager for the General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS), a PEO EIS enterprise resource planning (ERP) financial and procurement management system.