PEO Pulse- May 8, 2020

►► PEO PULSE – May 8, 2020

The "PEO Pulse" is a weekly digest of relevant news, recent PEO EIS events and updates to keep our workforce informed. 

►► UPCOMING EVENTS

• May 21 – PEO EIS Change of Charter Ceremony and Ms. Smith's Retirement Ceremony

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY IN EUROPE DAY

Today is the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day -- the commemoration of the Allied forces victory in the Atlantic and the end of World War II in Europe 75 years ago. The Friends of the National WWII Memorial has put together a wonderful video marking this important day:  https://vimeo.com/416136654

►► AROUND EIS

IPPS-A ANALYST STEPS UP DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC TO “DO WHAT I TRAINED TO DO”

(May 5) Aristotle once said: “Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation.” For Maj. George H. Johnson, IPPS-A Business Intelligence Analyst, his decision to volunteer at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital to support the COVID-19 response effort is about using his Army skills to answer the needs of the nation during a global crisis.

CACI IMPLEMENTS IPPS-A FOR US ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

(Army Technology, May 7) The technology is the largest integrated human resources (HR) system worldwide, according to CACI. In addition to standardising and streamlining, IPPS-A integrates soldier personnel and pay processes and data across active, national guard and reserve army units.

►► ARMY

IN MODERNIZATION PUSH, ARMY RESEARCHES INTEGRATED POWER CABLES FOR SOLDIERS

(Army.mil, May 4, Dan Lafontaine) Army Futures Command (AFC) is bolstering dismounted Soldiers’ power capabilities by developing integrated, flexible cables for a new generation of modernization priorities. Enhanced Soldier maneuverability and mobility on the battlefield are among the initial improvements resulting from new cables that will be incorporated into a tactical vest, according to Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) researchers.

ARMY WANTS WEARABLE DEVICE FOR FASTER CORONAVIRUS DETECTION

(Stars and Stripes, May 5, John Vandiver) The Army is seeking to rapidly field wearable coronavirus detectors, in a push to get an earlier warning of a virus that has infected nearly 5,000 service members. On Monday, the military put out a $25 million bid through its Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium to develop the device. The Army hopes to award up to 10 contracts within weeks.

ARL RESEARCHERS HELP DESIGN 3D-PRINTED VENTILATORS

(Army.mil, May 1, Thomas Brading) To take on the shortage of ventilators caused by COVID-19, developers from the Army Research Laboratory are collaborating with civilian partners to manufacture low-cost, emergency ventilators suitable to be 3D printed.

►► FEDERAL

ESPER: MILITARY MUST ADAPT TO NEW NORMAL WITH VIRUS, OR IT COULD SEE LARGER IMPACTS TO READINESS

(Stars and Stripes, May 4, Caitlin M. Kenney) The military could see greater impacts to readiness over time if they do not adapt their training and recruitment to cope with the coronavirus, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday.

TELEWORK PROGRAMS AT DOD COULD STICK AROUND AFTER CORONAVIRUS

(C4ISRNET, May 6, Andrew Eversden and Aaron Mehta) The coronavirus pandemic sent the Pentagon’s IT officials scrambling to prepare its workforce and network for telework. Now, as the Department of Defense begins to ponder what effective work looks like after successfully carrying out its mission during months of work from home, some changes may stick around.

PENTAGON MULLING REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL COVID-19 FUNDS

(CQ-Roll Call, May 4, Andrew Clevenger) The Pentagon expects to request new funding in the next COVID-19 recovery bill for medical supplies and economic relief for defense contractors, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said Monday.

MILITARY'S CORONAVIRUS POLICIES WILL REMAIN STRICT, EVEN AS STATES RELAX RULES

(Military.com, May 4, Richard Sisk) Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that the military is continuing to follow the strict guidelines laid down by Dr. Anthony Fauci to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, even as many states relax restrictions as they seek to reopen their economies.

ESPER: FLAT BUDGET COULD SPEED CUTTING OF LEGACY PROGRAMS

(Defense News, May 5, Aaron Mehta) If the Pentagon faces tighter budgets in the coming years, departmental planners should look to cut legacy programs first in order to preserve funding for modernization requirements, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: DOD CIO MAKES CASE FOR STICKING WITH JEDI

(Breaking Defense, May 5, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.) A lot of people – even experts – don’t get what the JEDI cloud computing program is really about, Dana Deasy told me. And that, the Defense Department’s Chief Information Officer admitted, is partly the Pentagon’s own fault he told me during a half-hour interview.

EXPERTS DEBATE: SHOULD JEDI CLOUD BE SAVED?

(Breaking Defense, May 4, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.) The retired Army three-star general, now director of defense research at the Heritage Foundation, reached out to me after a recent article on the legal battle paralyzing the Pentagon’s $10 billion, 10-year cloud computing contract, awarded to Microsoft but contested by Amazon.

BIPARTISAN SENATE GROUP URGES HAZARD PAY FOR FEDS

(NextGov, May 6, Erich Wagner) A bipartisan group of 19 senators on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to authorize hazard pay for federal employees working on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic and encouraged it to act to enhance agencies’ use of workplace flexibilities to protect workers.

►► WORKFORCE

PEO PERSPECTIVE: MAY 2020

(May 5) This is my final Perspective as PEO for this organization as I retire and hand over the reins to the next PEO. In this last issue, I have a lot of important information to share with you. Please bear with me; this is going to be lengthy!

TEAMMATE TUESDAY: GUS BURNSIDE IS A GO-GETTER

(May 5) Gus Burnside, II, product lead for the Army Enterprise Staff Management System (AESMS) program, is the #PEOEISTeammateTuesday. Before joining PEO EIS, Burnside supported the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats at U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) managing counternarcotics and law-enforcement programs for 11 African countries. He answered seven questions about his career and life.

TRAINING:

The 2020 Senior Enterprise Talent Management (SETM) and Enterprise Talent Management (ETM) Programs are accepting applications for training opportunities in 2020.   The application window closes on 15 May 2020, so apply now. Just log into the SETM automated system https://www.csldo.army.mil/ to apply for these great opportunities for permanent Army Civilians in grades 12 -15 and pay band equivalents. DOD has not changed their timeline for Agency nominations for the DoD programs which prevents Army from changing the current deadlines for SETM/ETM applications. You must act now and log into the automated website and apply for these 2021 developmental opportunities.

This message contains curated content from external sources, and does not indicate PEO EIS endorsement of the views or ideas expressed therein.