Catalyst for Change

Written by Rebecca Shinneman

In doing so, the Army is pursuing the most comprehensive transformation of its forces since the early years of World War II.

This transformation will produce evolutionary and revolutionary changes designed to improve both Army and joint force capabilities to meet current and future full-spectrum challenges. U.S. installations overseas will decline in numbers, and military and Army civilian personnel will return from locations in Europe and Asia to bases in the continental United States.

In addition to the military unit/organizational relocations, BRAC 2005 will close five headquarters installations, three chemical depots, four ammunition plants, and 176 Army Reserve and 211 Army National Guard facilities, while creating training centers of excellence, centers of excellence, joint technical and research facilities, new armed forces reserve centers and increasing productivity of armaments and equipment. There will be several major moves of federal civilian and contractor personnel to support mission relocations, which will include six major realignments and four new brigade combat teams.

At the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command, headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command and its Army Team C4ISR strategic partners— Program Executive Office-Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, Program Executive Office-Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, and the Communications- Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC)—are using BRAC as a catalyst to transform its organizations, facilities and people.<[> Charged with executing a phased move of personnel, functions and equipment to Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Md., and other BRAC-mandated locations over a three-year period, the command must ensure mission continuity for ongoing overseas contingency operations while constructing and relocating to a new $800 million state-of-the-art IT campus at APG in 2010–2011.

“The most critical part of this transformation is our people,” Major General Dennis L. Via, commanding general of CECOM LCMC, said of the BRAC. “The facilities will be built, and the equipment will be moved; however, it is our people—soldiers, Army civilians and contractors—who will enable the center of excellence to become a reality.”

HUMAN CAPITAL STRATEGY

The command’s human capital strategy is focused on maximizing job enrichment opportunities for a new multifunctional work force operating in first-rate facilities. As of March 2009, 375 advance party personnel are currently at APG, and an additional 800 personnel are scheduled to relocate from Fort Monmouth or be hired there this year.

At the new Army Center of Excellence for C4ISR campus, CECOM LCMC and Army Team C4ISR will organize its mission into “domains,” where similar mission and business processes will be physically co-located to dramatically enhance and improve mission efficiency and effectiveness while providing a collaborative work environment for employees. Laboratory and SCIF’ed facilities will complement each other through co-location within a nine-building campus setting, as opposed to being spread over 40 buildings currently at Fort Monmouth.

The new mission domains are the pillars of the center of excellence. Each provides traditional program management functions, as well as research and development supported by functional representatives from across the commodity life cycle. The center will change the workplace with green spaces, vistas and lots of daylight. The new work environment will help develop a more open, innovative and professional environment where employees will have the opportunity to cross-train, have flexible work schedules, and conduct decentralized operations in a high-tech IT environment. On March 17, 2009, approximately 40 Army senior leaders and 14 Army interns from CECOM LCMC and CERDEC observed the one-year anniversary of the start of construction of the new center of excellence campus.

During the anniversary event, Via emphasized that “we are leveraging BRAC as a catalyst for change … [and to] reconstitute the command and determine what capabilities we need to support the future force in 2015 and beyond.”

The emerging of the new campus represents a new beginning for the Army and a once-in-a-generation investment in a center of excellence that will be unequalled anywhere in the world.

CECOM LCMC is leveraging BRAC 2005 to become the premier DoD leader in providing C4ISR systems and capabilities to the joint warfighter, and to posture itself and its strategic partners for the future to better meet the challenges of complex 21st century missions. ♦
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Rebecca Shinneman is communications director for the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command.

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