PEO Perspective: February 2023

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Each February, we observe Black History Month and reflect on the tremendous contributions of Black Americans to our country and our history.

Black Soldiers have defended our nation since the Revolutionary War and have built a legacy of courage and professionalism by serving in the U.S. Army with great honor and distinction, inspiring generations to come. We are grateful to our brothers and sisters in service.

COLLABORATING WITH INDUSTRY

In late January, Integrated Enterprise Network project manager Col. Jay Shell and I visited innovative companies in Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley, California, to capture insights about industry's best practices in Agile and software development.

EMERGING LEADERS

On the last day of January, Army Human Resource Systems (AHRS) product director Wayne Sok joined the AFCEA Belvoir team for their Emerging Leaders roundtable at the Fort Belvoir Golf Course.

The AFCEA Belvoir Emerging Leaders program offers professionals 40 years old and younger networking opportunities with senior leaders. Wayne gave the young professionals an update on AHRS, which provides installation and field commanders worldwide with essential, state-of-the-art, cost-effective and standardized knowledge-based automation tools. Wayne also shared insights from his career and insights about leadership.

PEO EIS is invested in helping to grow the next-generation workforce. Thank you to AFCEA Belvoir for letting us be a part of this program!

MILDEP VISIT TO PEO EIS

My top priority remains delivering capability, and this is only possible with an exemplary workforce.

On Feb. 2, we were honored with a visit from Military Deputy Lt. Gen. Robert Marion, who received portfolio and Defense Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS) briefings from EIS leaders. He also took the time to recognize several PEO EIS workforce members and leaders for above and beyond service.

Please visit our LinkedIn and Facebook pages for photos from his visit.

ACT RELINQUISHMENT OF CHARTER

The first week of February has been busy! On Feb. 3, Col. Mark Taylor, project manager for Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO), will host a Relinquishment of Charter ceremony for the Applied Cyber Technologies (ACT) product office at the Forge at Fort Belvoir. The ceremony marks the assimilation of the functions of ACT with the Cyber Platforms and Systems (CPS) product office.

In October 2018, ACT was established to support the Deployable Defensive Cyberspace Operations System and the mission network. In 2021, DCO shifted its focus to new capabilities and projects that took precedence over the mission network requirement, ultimately removing program of record responsibility from ACT.

ACT’s primary focus was on the rapid procurement, assessment, innovation, integration and deployment of cyber capabilities for the Army’s Cyber Mission Forces. Its ground-breaking collaboration model enabled industry, academia, and military to work together to solve the Army’s most pressing cyber challenges.

I am proud of the work that DCO accomplished with ACT. Special thanks to Mr. Art Edgeson, who has led the office since June 2021. I look forward to continuing our mission of rapidly delivering world-class defensive cyber capabilities.

LMR RENAMING CEREMONY

Finally, Col. Shell will host a ceremony Feb. 16, renaming Product Lead Land Mobile Radio (LMR) to Base Emergency Communications Systems (BECS), highlighting the significance of the role of synergizing installation communications to detect, deter and prevent threats. 

I am proud of the work that product lead EJ Wasikowski and his team have achieved in securing Army installations and networks, and safeguarding Soldiers.

Congratulations to all, and continued success in this critical mission!

AUSA GLOBAL FORCE SYMPOSIUM & EXPOSITION

March 28-30, I will be in Huntsville, Alabama, at the 2023 AUSA Global Force Symposium & Exposition, along with leaders from Army Materiel Command and Army Futures Command, and senior leaders from ASA(ALT).

The theme for this year’s program is the Army’s Modernization Strategy to drive transformational change, with a focus on how the Total Army will modernize and transform into a multi-domain capable force.

My team and I meet with industry every week, and as always, I encourage you to continue to share your innovative strategies. To request a meeting with me at Global Force, submit our Industry Meeting Request webform.

I hope to see you there!

Wishing you all the best in the month ahead,

Ross R. Guckert, Program Executive Officer, PEO EIS

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.