SSCF graduation ceremony at the Detroit Arsenal

By Bill Gattie, TACOM LCMC Public AffairsJuly 11, 2013

usa image
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Graduates from the Senior Service College Fellowship (SSCF) class of 2013 were recently recognized in a ceremony at the Detroit Arsenal.

The SSCF is a 10-month program, conducted under the auspices of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Midwest Region and Lawrence Technological University (LTU), designed to develop civilian acquisition leaders (GS 14 and above) for critical senior leadership roles such as product and project managers (PMs), Program Executive Officers (PEOs) and other key acquisition positions to support the warfighter.

While in the program, students earn a Master's degree in Global Leadership and Management from LTU and certificates for several DAU classes. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L) has recognized the program as an equivalent to other senior service colleges.

There were nine graduates this year, including one contractor, from various organizations throughout the TACOM LCMC; they were:

• Cathy Atherton, System of Systems Engineering and Integration (SoSE&I)

• James Baumgartner, PEO Combat Support and Combat Service Support (CS&CSS)

• Geralyn BoBo, PEO Ground Combat Systems (GCS)

• Brian Corrigan, Army Contracting Command (ACC) Warren

• Anthony Desmond, PEO GCS

• Khristopher Miciura, Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)

• Keith Schweizer, TARDEC

• Colleen Setili, PEO GCS

• Ray Williams, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS)

The keynote speaker was Bahman Mirshab, Ph.D. Dean, College of Management, Lawrence Technological University. Born in Tehran, Iran, Mirshab received his Bachelor degree in Economics from Tehran University, one of the most prestigious Universities in Iran. He came to the United States in 1973 and received his Master degree in Economics in 1975 from the University of Detroit, and his PhD degree in 1979 from Wayne State University. Having joined the University of Detroit in 1979, he served that institution in various capacities, the last of which was Dean of the College of Business Administration from 2002 to 2004. Immediately prior to assuming his current position at LTU, he served as Dean of the Cameron School of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Houston from August 2006 to June 2012.

Mirshab congratulated the graduates on their accomplishments and challenged them by sharing some of his thoughts on leadership. He described leadership as a relationship in which those being led place their trust in the leader. Quoting from an Indian poet, he said, "A group of idiots led by a wise person will defeat a group of wise people led by an idiot." "Everyone will be called upon to lead at some points in his or her life," he said, "The question is, will you be ready?"