Q&A: Rear Admiral Charles E. "Grunt" Smith

MIT 2011 Volume: 15 Issue: 11 (December)

Rear Admiral Charles E. “Grunt” Smith currently serves as Program Executive Officer for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) for the Department of the Navy (DON).

As a naval aviator, test pilot, nuclear surface officer and acquisition professional, Smith holds an in-depth knowledge base of many of the operational, technical and acquisition aspects of the DON.

His operational achievements include command of Sea Strike Squadron 29, USS Inchon, and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ashore he has held key acquisition positions as director, aviation/ship integration and assistant commander for acquisition at the Naval Air Systems Command, as well as vice commander of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) before being assigned as PEO.

Smith was interviewed by MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly.

Q: What is the mission of the PEO EIS?

A: The program executive office and staff collaborate to develop, acquire, field and sustain enterprise network, business and fleet support information technology systems for the warfighters of the Navy and the Marine Corps. We support six different sponsors across the spectrum of the DON. Our programs and services are foundational to the daily running, business and operations of the DON. We don’t ever expect a day off—everything we deliver must be up and running 24/7, 365 days a year, from the foundational network we communicate upon, the supply systems we feed the fleet with, how we maintain and train around the world, to ensuring our military families receive their pay and allowances. It’s a very challenging portfolio, but thankfully I’m surrounded by great people from the PEO, SPAWAR and Marine Corps Systems Command [MARCORSYSCOM] with tremendous acquisition experience across a broad segment of the DON. To that end I must give great credit to our deputy PEO, Mr. Victor Gavin [SES], our program managers and our assistant PEO staff.

Q: Why was the Naval Enterprise Networks PMO stood up early this year, and what is the NEN role in the development of the Navy’s next-generation network?

A: On February 24, 2011, Captain Shawn Hendricks became the program manager of the Naval Enterprise Networks [NEN], the program management office [PMO] that manages the acquisition life cycle of the DON’s enterprisewide terrestrial IT networks. NEN’s portfolio includes the Navy Marine Corps Intranet [NMCI], the Base Level Information Infrastructure for the OCONUS Navy Enterprise Network [BLII/ONE NET] and the Next Generation Enterprise Network [NGEN]. NEN provides program management of the NMCI continuity of services contract [CoSC], while performing the acquisition and transition work for NGEN’s successful implementation in support of OPNAV and Headquarters Marine Corps.

The establishment of the NEN was a strategic and natural evolutionary step in the acquisition of our enterprise IT networks for the DON, and unifies the Navy’s terrestrial networks and data management to improve capability and service while saving significant dollars by focusing efforts under one program office and one enterprise network construct. This is all in support of the DON’s drive to one network environment.

Q: What is the current status of the NGEN initiative, and how will it go forward in the next couple of years?

A: Work on NGEN is progressing to a tightening schedule. We are working to release a request for proposal before the end of January 2012. We are scheduled to have all contracts awarded no later than December 2012, and have the transition from services under the current NMCI CoSC completed no later than spring 2014. The NEN PMO has communicated regularly with industry through Industry Day events about the upcoming NGEN acquisition and has made information available to potential offerors via multiple methods to support their preparations to submit proposals.

Q: What do you see as the chief challenges facing it and its commander, Captain Shawn Hendricks?

A: NGEN represents the continuous evolution of the Navy’s enterprise networks, and will provide secure, net-centric data and services to Navy and Marine Corps personnel. NGEN is the follow-on acquisition approach to providing enterprise network services that were originally consolidated in 2000 under NMCI, the U.S. government’s largest IT outsourcing program. The challenge is to take the network we have today, that we are so dependent on, and with the help of our industry partners, not miss a step or lose any ground in security, reliability, supportability and performance as we transition from NMCI to NGEN. The primary goals of NEN are to minimize the impact of transition to our customers and to provide a network and its services in a more cost-effective manner to meet the needs of the DON today and tomorrow. The acquisition will ensure flexibility to incorporate new technology as it matures and improved COTS products as they emerge and as IA requirements dictate.

Q: What benefits, now and in the future, do you see from the Navy’s enterprise resource planning [ERP] program?

A: As the Navy has said since the inception of the program, Navy ERP is modernizing and standardizing Navy business operations, providing fiscal visibility across the enterprise, permitting total asset visibility in ways never before possible. Those enhanced capabilities are increasing the Navy’s business effectiveness and efficiency as the commands inside Navy ERP really get about the business of using this versatile solution. The key will be moving out to lead-turn the demands of the fiscal pressures being put upon the defense budget. The real benefits of Navy-ERP will be in its utility and its by-product of transparency for the leaders of the Navy. Navy-ERP is all about enabling the leadership of the Navy to see its business and in so doing make sound strategic and operational fact-based decisions to shape readiness and Navy futures.

Navy ERP’s current and future benefits cover a wide range of business, supply and workforce aspects of “the business” of running the Navy that include but are not limited to supply benefits, business process improvements, financial controls, integrated management and improved readiness for our fleet.

The larger the business base of the Navy becomes visible through Navy-ERP, the better the returns. Our system commands are already using this tool set to greater levels and pushing themselves to fully extract the benefits. Naval Supply Systems Command alone has made very tangible use of the Navy-ERP wholesale and retail supply solutions across the Navy. The return on investment truly comes from the aggressive and uniform use of Navy-ERP, not solely from its deployment. That is why I remain so excited about Navy-ERP; we’ve only just begun to reap the benefits.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also point out the ERP supply solution we are delivering with MARCORSYSCOM to the Marine Corps, Global Combat Support Systems-Marine Corps [GCSS-MC]. This system is now operational with the USMC and has even had its muscles flexed in real-world operations with III Marine Expeditionary Force [MEF] in the Pacific area. In short order we will have this ERP delivered throughout the MEF.

I love delivering for the USMC; when they decide they need something to enable their warfighters, they dig in with acquisition and ensure success. Not only has this common supply system significantly reduced process times, inventory costs and force-readiness visibility, it is also retiring four separate legacy systems generating additional cost savings for the USMC. Perhaps that is the key to any ERP undertaking. The success is as much in the hands of the customer as it is in acquisition. Only the operators truly know and understand their business processes, operational needs and their people. The word “enterprise” really takes meaning when you look at how you achieve success in an effective business change effort such as GCSS-MC.

Q: How is PEO EIS working to transform Navy manpower, personnel, training, and education [MPTE] capabilities, and what is the role of the Sea Warrior program in that effort?

A: The Sea Warrior Program Office was formally stood up in June 2007. This was in direct response to the Chief of Naval Personnel’s request to the assistant secretary of the Navy [research, development and acquisition] in May 2006 to designate PEO-EIS as the acquisition lead for what was then known as Sea Warrior IT development efforts. These efforts included Navy Knowledge Online, Navy e-Learning, and the Career Management System/Interactive Detailing [CMS/ID]. The complexity and scope of these efforts required disciplined systems engineering, acquisition and deployment planning. Today, the Sea Warrior Program Office provides “tooth to tail” management of a complex portfolio of 30 IT systems used to recruit, train, pay, promote, move, retire and support Navy personnel. Plus, the office is responsible for the Distance Support Program, which includes global customer relationship management and reach-back capabilities for the Fleet. Distance Support also comprises the Navy Information/Application Product Suite [NIAPS], which provides a common development and host framework for 41 business IT shipboard applications. NIAPS also helps alleviate shipboard bandwidth issues by allowing two-way replication of data on and off ships on a bandwidth available basis using advanced data compression. Distance Support was transitioned from NAVSEA to PEO-EIS [PMW 240] in March 2008.

With regard to MPTE transformation, the Sea Warrior program is focused on supporting the deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel, training and education, OPNAV [N1] in driving a collective focus on enterprisewide strategic and interoperable IT solutions consistent with the Navy’s Total Force Vision for the 21st Century.

Let me give you a few specific examples. In June 2009, PMW 240 successfully delivered the capability for sailors to negotiate their own orders online using CMS/ID. This was a significant milestone as the Navy transitions to self-service human resource applications, because it gave sailors more direct control over their orders while reducing the manual paperwork and time associated with orders processing. Today, CMS/ID processes over 16,500 sailor job applications per month.

On the recruiting front, PMW 240 deployed Phase I of the Personalized Recruiting for Immediate and Delayed Enlistment Modernization [PRIDE MOD] in May 2011. This modernization effort is integral to the Navy Recruiting Command’s strategic plan to realize the vision of “anytime and anywhere” recruiting. As an example, prior to PRIDE MOD, Navy recruiters faxed applicant forms to the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command Information Resource System, where administrative staff manually entered applicant data into the legacy PRIDE mainframe system. Now, PRIDE MOD’s real-time data sharing, via the web, is enabling electronic submittal of enlisted applicant data to the entrance command. We also coupled this advancement with the delivery and fielding of a mobile recruiting solution, thereby making any Navy recruiter capable of complete recruitment processing wherever their mission my take them, right from their briefcase or backpack. That even includes mobile scanning and signature processing.

Other benefits include a more seamless process for completing enlisted applications, classifying recruits, reserving training seats, initiating the Sailor’s Enlisted Service Record, and reducing fraudulent enlistments. PMW 240 is now building on the PRIDE MOD foundation to provide a common platform for officer and enlisted recruiting. We’re talking here about large scale savings in time, travel and effort required to keep our ships and squadrons served by the best and brightest new warriors our nation so proudly supports.

Q: What are you doing to improve Navy personnel and pay systems?

A: Supporting Naval Personnel Command, PMW 240 is the lead program office in the design and development of a future personnel and pay solution. The Navy’s personnel and pay IT backbone is very complex; it consists of over 2,000 interfaces, 240,000 data elements and 11,000 reports.

Getting to a more agile personnel and pay solution requires not only a deep scrub of end-to-end business processes and legacy systems code, but also the attendant doctrine, organization, training, leadership, education, personnel and facility aspects. To that end, we support N1 as they innovatively employ critical business disciplines, process reengineering, architecture and governance standards to continue to manage and care for the Navy’s most valued investments, our people. When the work is done, we will be business-wise and prepared to take further steps. Until then we are successfully sustaining our current systems and services.

Last, but certainly not least, PMW 240 is currently modernizing the Navy’s Learning Management System [LMS] to support the highly distributed and global naval training environment. The LMS is the content delivery backbone of Navy e-Learning, which is one of the largest systems in the world, with more than 900,000 users and 6,500 online course offerings. The new LMS is a unique acquisition in that it combines agile software development with the disciplined DoD 5000 systems acquisition management process.

PMW 240 is one of the first defense program offices to undertake this type of blended, contemporary IT development, which keeps the disciplined structure of DoD 5000 while allowing significant flexibility in the development process. And it’s paying off. A cadre of representatives from the Navy’s Learning Centers has been involved throughout LMS application development, so user input is a constant throughout the process while requirement volatility is controlled. At the end of the day, we have more cost-effective application testing—and happier customers.

Q: What are the chief strengths of the DON’s process for IT acquisition?

A: There are disciplines I have appreciated coming to the forefront in IT acquisition:

• Acknowledgement that defense business systems [DBS] are procured in a manner that is totally different from major weapon systems.
• Separate but rigorous and disciplined acquisition review process for DBS.
• Governance structures tailored for DBS.
• Well-defined business case templates to support milestone decisions.
• More closely aligned DON Gateway reviews process with the overarching OSD acquisition review processes [provides for more consistent display of program information], which should facilitate for more upfront dialogue prior to major milestone reviews event.
• Forcing factual business decisions through disciplined business case analysis using all possible solutions to include the full spectrum of the IT industry.

   

Q: Where are opportunities for improvements in the DON’s process for IT acquisition?

A: When you say opportunities, I think of cost and time reductions in our current fiscal environment:

• The key step in any successful business IT procurement is the upfront business processes system engineering/ re-engineering [SE] prior to effective analysis of alternatives or business case analysis. Having the funding so aligned to enable that SE would be the greatest of risk mitigators.
• There are large costs in IT certification efforts to maintain information assurance. System, component and application certifications that are good throughout DoD, or the entire government for that matter, would reduce costs to any given portfolio of enterprise programs.
• As the new business capability life cycle process matures for IT acquisition, there appears to be room to further streamline the DoD 5000, Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System and Gate processes to reduce procurement cycle times and management costs.
• IT acquisition, by its enterprise nature, is just harder than the other acquisition environments I’ve worked in before. IT touches so many different aspects of the DON and crosses nearly all traditional lanes of authority.

   

Q: How has the Enterprise IT Services [EITS] program and approach helped improve IT procurement and processes?

A: At the conception of EITS in 2009, several opportunities were identified by our team to Navy leadership as the right things to do to save money and lead-turn what most knew would be challenging future years. The whole point was to increase the capability over cost ratio of IT. Opportunities identified included data center consolidation, enterprise software licensing, application consolidation and virtualization, tiered data storage, and legacy network consolidation into NGEN. While priorities and resourcing did not permit all of those areas to be brought forward at the time, most are now in some form of execution, planning or tied to the achievement of NGEN. Many have now been put as priorities by DON CIO, MARCORSYSCOM HQC4 and OPNAV N2N6. While the work is ongoing, these are all very real enablers in the DON reducing IT expenditures and sustaining capabilities at lower costs.

EITS is also building a very successful reputation for structuring and delivering enterprise solutions for rather complicated sets of requirements currently being served by multiple legacy systems, or not being served at all. That work again is process and business focused with emphasis placed on sound systems engineering and cost-wise use of COTS where available.

Q: What messages would you most like to emphasize to industry in how it works with your office and the programs under your command?

A: Our partners in industry surely see now the pressures the DON are under to support initiatives to reduce the deficit, while our Navy and Marine Corps conduct stability, combat and humanitarian operations around the world. Through NGEN and throughout our entire portfolio of DON foundational IT programs, we require industry to aggressively pursue with us ways to increase the ratio of capability over cost [C/C] by holding or increasing the “capability” numerator and decreasing the “cost” denominator. We have some great relationships with our industry partners. We want to hear more great ideas on driving C/C in the right direction, and we think we can do that to both the DON’s and industry’s benefit.

Q: How has your operational experience, including serving as captain of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower nuclear aircraft carrier, shaped your approach to your current position?

A: I’m a fleet operator asked to come back into acquisition and proud to do so, but my heart and my focus is on sustaining or advancing fleet capabilities while returning dollars to the fleet for the troops’ readiness, and that of the ships, submarines and aircraft they fight from around the world.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: We have entered, maybe abruptly, into a new time where the catalysts have materialized to pressurize the manners in which we procure and employ enterprise IT; and to do so purposely with the intent to reduce the costs incurred by the DON to meet its enterprise IT requirements. We have enterprise stakeholder motivation, focused direction and a renewed opportunity today to do good for the DON. ♦

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