PEO Perspective: August 2023

We are embarking on a season of transformation at PEO EIS – and a sweeping adoption of the Agile framework. We are also soon heading into a new fiscal year. It is my intent to continue our tradition of excellence as we evolve as an organization, welcoming new leaders and adapting to the technology demands that drive the world’s best Army.

Like most of the Army, PEO EIS has had a busy summer season of transitions, with 11 official charter ceremonies and several senior leader transitions at headquarters.

As always, a lot of change – but I am confident that we are well positioned to tackle some of the exciting challenges ahead.

PEO EIS SUMMER BALL

On July 28, it was my pleasure to host the PEO EIS Summer Ball at the Hilton Mark Center – our first time gathering for a formal, large-scale Army event like this since before the pandemic.

My intent in bringing the ball back was to create an evening of esprit de corps for our hard-working workforce and our stakeholder and industry partners, enabling us to come together once again as we did before. The evening included some of the expected heraldry and tradition, like the ceremonial grog, and afforded us the opportunity to celebrate our great organization and community. The Hon. Gabe Camarillo, Under Secretary of the Army, was our keynote speaker, and he spoke about the challenges facing the Army and how we all can help. It was an honor to have him join us and lend his insights.

Other distinguished guests included the Hon. Douglas Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Acquisition, Logistics & Technology (ASAALT); Ms. Margaret Boatner, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Strategy & Acquisition Reform; Mr. Greg Garcia, SES (Ret.), former Acting Army CIO; Mr. Timothy Goddette, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Sustainment; Mr. Jonathan Moak, SES, former Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management & Comptroller (ASA FM&C); Dr. Alexis Ross, SES, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Strategy and Acquisition Reform; Maj. Gen. Rob Collins, Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management; Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee (Ret.); Maj. Gen. Sue Dueitt (Ret.); Ms. Terry Watson, SES, Director, DCS G-1 – and former Acting PEO and Deputy PEO; Rich Aldridge, former Air Force PEO; as well as recent PEOs and deputies – Cherie Smith, Doug Wiltsie, Maj. Gen. Patrick Burden (Ret.), Brendan Burke and Lee Harvey.

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this magical night happen.

RECENT NEWS & EVENTS

General Fund Enterprise Business System Assumption of Charter

Carlton White assumed leadership of the General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) product office, part of the Defense Integrated Business Systems (DIBS) portfolio, in an Assumption of Charter Ceremony on July 10.

Carlton replaced our acting product director, Rob Porter, who had led GFEBS — which provides secure, web-based, real-time financial data to the Army’s senior leaders — since June 2022. GFEBS became the first major U.S. Army enterprise resource planning (ERP) program to migrate its data to the cloud in 2020. Under his leadership, GFEBS has expanded its usage of the cloud and participated in everything from disaster recovery efforts, to using an Agile approach to software development, to monitoring and assessing the system’s defense against cyberattacks and intrusions.

Carlton comes to PEO EIS after serving as deputy director for the Ammunition and Combat Support and Combat Service Support portfolio at ASA(ALT). He also has held several positions with PEO Combat Support and Combat Support Systems and was deployed as a civilian to Kuwait, South Korea and Afghanistan.

Thank you to Rob and Carlton!

Enterprise Services Assumption of Charter

Enterprise Services held an assumption of charter ceremony July 24 establishing Reginald (Reg) Shuford as product director.

Reg recently returned to us from Senior Service College, where he received a Master of Strategic Studies, having previously served as the product director for GFEBS. 

Reg has been tested numerous times throughout his rising career, and he has always come through with flying colors. He is unflappable and puts leaders at ease with his knowledgeable approach to problems — while also possessing a humble yet confident leadership style. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, and we’re lucky to have Reg on our team.

Besides leading GFEBS, Shuford previously worked for PEO EIS’s Army Contract Writing System, Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army, and GFEBS – Sensitive Activities.

It was my great pleasure at the ceremony to present the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal to Sergio Alvarez, Enterprise Services’ acting project director for over a year, for his numerous accomplishments. Every time I have asked Sergio to step up and take the reins, he did so — and he did it flawlessly.

Serg will return to his permanent role as deputy PD, where he and Reg will form a championship team. Reg and Serg, thank you for all you do!

Defensive Cyber Operations Change of Charter

On July 21, we said farewell to Col. Mark Taylor, Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) project manager, in a change of charter ceremony – the last such ceremony the acquisition organization will hold for DCO before it moves this fall to its new home at Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (IEW&S).

Mark’s accomplishments are many – including spearheading the Army’s first and only Budget Authority (BA)-08 pilot effort for the DOD and enabling the Army to readily respond to unexpected and dynamic cyberspace challenges – an Agile example for the whole Army.

Mark’s team also delivered the Deployable Defensive Cyberspace System – Modular and garrison kits, continued the development of the Army’s Big Data Platform, established the Forge and Armory, delivered cyber capability and tools to cyber defenders and was a critical enabler for the Army’s Unified Network.

Mark returns to the Army Budget Office as the liaison to the Congressional Appropriations Committee, and we welcome back Bob Zoppa, who recently returned to PEO EIS from Senior Service College at the National Defense University.

Bob previously served as deputy project manager for PEO EIS’s DIBS portfolio, and he was instrumental in developing the Global Combat Support System – Army program. Bob also worked for the Army Space Command, supported Army Knowledge Online and had a 20-year active-duty military career.

We’re incredibly fortunate to have such an accomplished leader back on our team – thank you to Mark and Bob!

UPCOMING EVENTS OF NOTE

AFCEA TechNet Augusta

We have solidified plans for our participation at the AFCEA TechNet Augusta Conference and Expo from August 14-17.

This event always features outstanding speakers.

• Mr. Young Bang will deliver a dynamic keynote about the Army’s digital transformation journey.
• I will be part of a fireside chat discussing how PEOs are executing digital transformation. Other speakers include Ms. Jennifer Swanson, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering and Software; and PEOs from PEO C3T, PEO IEW&S and PEO STRI.
• Col. Jay Shell, our Integrated Enterprise Network project manager, will discuss how the Army will deliver a Unified Network.
• Lt. Col. Dakota Steedsman, our Cyber Analytics and Detection product manager, will discuss the Army’s cyber requirements.
• Ms. Sarah Mullins, Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) product lead, and Mr. Gerry Lebel, CHESS lead product officer, will share insights about the upcoming ITES-4S procurement.

To request a meeting with PEO EIS leaders at AFCEA TechNet Augusta, complete and submit the Industry Meeting Request webform. For more information about PEO EIS at TechNet, please visit our Events page.

We look forward to seeing you there!

GFIM Change of Charter

Congratulations to Rob Porter, former GFEBS acting product director, who assumes the charter for Global Force Information Management (GFIM) in a ceremony this month. 

Rob is the product office’s third leader, following JT Craft and, most recently, Rich Eva. Both these leaders contributed to building the program from the ground up and leading the team responsible for providing an integrated, interoperable data initiative platform to supply authoritative dynamic force structure and employment data for the Army.

I have full confidence in Rob’s ability to lead the effort to automate the Army’s core deploy-to-redeploy and retrograde business processes.

Thank you to JT and Rich for their work in establishing this important program; we are excited for what the future holds for Rob and the GFIM team!

WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY

On a national level, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day Aug. 26, commemorating women’s right to vote. It’s incredible to consider that this hard-fought victory happened only a little over 100 years ago. We are indebted to women leaders as they continue to break barriers in service and inspire all of us to reach higher, help to break ceilings and make a positive impact in service to our country.

REMEMBRANCE

On a personal note, we were saddened last week to learn of the passing of a beloved teammate and leader, Maj. Gen. Tony Potts. He and his wife Jen have been a huge part of the Army Acquisition and PEO EIS family. I ask that you please keep the Potts family in your prayers as they navigate this tragic and unexpected loss.

Please take good care during the remainder of the summer.

Ross R. Guckert, Program Executive Officer, PEO EIS

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.