Gus Burnside is a go-getter

Garnard “Gus” Burnside, II, product lead for the Army Enterprise Staff Management System (AESMS) program, is today’s #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. Prior to that, he supported the Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Expeditionary Workforce as director of emergency services and law enforcement at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He had a distinguished 24-year career in the Army, entering the military as an aviation operations specialist and deploying to Afghanistan, Albania, Germany, Iraq, Kosovo and Somalia. Born in the Bahamas, Burnside loves the ocean, scuba diving, water skiing and spending time with his wife on his boat, a Choey Lee trawler. He answered seven questions about his career and life. 

What does AESMS do?
AESMS acquires, deploys and sustains task-management systems. We have two portfolios: the Army Software Marketplace (ASM) and the Task Management Tool (TMT).

ASM is a one-stop apps store that supports the Army’s chief information officer.

TMT is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) collaboration tool that helps the Army complete tasks more efficiently. TMT supports 34 customers, including the Air Force Space Command, Army Forces Command, Army Reserve Command, Defense Health Agency, the Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) and U.S. Forces Korea. We are in the process of onboarding Army Futures Command and five other new customers. Because TMT is an out-of-the-box COTS product, all of our customers are using the latest version of the software.

What do customers appreciate about TMT?
TMT’s automated system tracks tasks from cradle to grave and enables leaders to see who is completing tasks on time and who isn’t. Since implementing TMT, HQDA has experienced a 34% reduction in missed deadlines.

TMT reduces paperwork. In the past, a lot of our procedures required wet signatures. TMT enables digital signatures.

Using a standardized tracking system enables the DOD to communicate more effectively. The DOD used to have more than 60 systems that tracked tasks, with only a handful of those systems talking to each other, and several were heavily customized; that’s not cost-effective.

Why have you been successful in your career?
I am a go-getter. I always strive to get everything done on time or ahead of time and do the best I can.

When I supported AFRICOM, I worked with a special assistant to the President of Cameroon to vet and groom a small military unit that became very successful at rooting out corruption inside the government. When I was chief of police at Bagram Air Base, I investigated and initiated prosecution charges for 15 contract-fraud cases.

What is the best advice you received?
General David McKiernan always said: “You can argue the issues, but never the people.” The mission always comes first, but you can’t execute it without the people. To get the mission done and create a good working environment, you can’t have malice against anyone.

What does a good leader do?
A good leader takes care of people and knows how to inspire teams to accomplish a mission.

If you could thank one person for the role they played in your life, who would it be and why?
My dad, a guy with an eighth-grade education, worked in the shipping industry and founded the reserve component of the police department in the Bahamas. He was an innovator in the Bahamian Drug Enforcement Unit. He always told me, “If you do anything, do it to the best of your ability. If you are a garbage collector, be the best garbage collector you can be.” He said, “When a man has done his best, angels can do no better.”

What do you consider the most valuable virtue?
Love. What else can we give each other that is more valuable?