The Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command has approved plans for legal office consolidation at three AMC Centers of Excellence - Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; and Rock Island Arsenal, Ilinois effective Jan. 1, 2015.
The consolidation provides a tremendous opportunity to achieve efficiencies and eliminate redundancies as we move forward to "right-size" our legal operations during the current drawdown of our Armed Forces and headquarters staffs.
Why consolidate? Quite simply, we believe that it will greatly help us to sustain excellence in the delivery of legal services throughout the AMC legal enterprise. One of the benefits of consolidation is that it affords managers the ability to better balance workload, and to cover the mission during times of staffing shortages. It also creates new opportunities for professional development for our workforce, and more flexibility to align employees with leaders and mentors of different backgrounds and experiences.
Another benefit to consolidation is that it helps ensure consistency in legal approach. You know the old saying--ask two lawyers and you'll get three opinions? While that is clearly hyperbole, there is certainly truth to the fact that each legal office has a common culture, a common way of analyzing issues. By consolidating, we hope to further our efforts to create a corporate AMC legal identity and approach to business. We believe that this will enhance our effectiveness in providing our commanders and leaders with the high quality of legal services that they deserve. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to optimize the delivery of legal services to our customers.
We have strived throughout the planning and implementation process to be as open and transparent as possible with our employees. We provided copies of the Operations Order directing the consolidation to the workforce, and have conducted multiple townhall meetings to explain the intent of the planning efforts and the results achieved. We have also sought input from our Union partners. While we expect to achieve some savings from these reshaping efforts, we have emphasized that no employee will be RIFed as a result of these efforts. In fact, the overwhelming majority of our employees will experience a seamless transition to the new legal structure.
At Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, we will have a consolidated AMC legal office under the leadership of the Chief Counsel, Ms. Maria Esparraguera. This organization will be titled the "Army Materiel Command Legal Center -- Aberdeen Proving Ground," or ALC-APG for short. The ALC-APG will provide legal services to all AMC organizations on APG, to include the Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command, the Research, Development and Engineering Command, the Chemical Materials Activity, the Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground, and their subordinate organizations and activities. This office will also provide legal support to Program Executive Officers (PEOs), the Garrison Commander and Staff, and tenant activities on APG. We view this consolidated legal office as a legal "center of excellence" in the areas of research & development and intellectual property law, which will provide enormous benefits to AMC going forward.
Redstone Arsenal, Alabama is experiencing a similar consolidation of legal services. The legal offices of the Army Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM) and the Army Contracting Command/Expeditionary Contracting Command (ACC/ECC) will combine into a new office known as the Army Materiel Command Legal Center -- Redstone Arsenal, or ALC-RSA, providing legal support to all AMC organizations at the major subordinate command level, as well as the Garrison, PEOs, and other tenant activities. This office will be led by the Chief Counsel, Mr. Fred Allen and the Director, Acquisition Law & Operations/Deputy Chief Counsel, Ms. Kim Tycer. This consolidation allows us to bring together both acquisition law and policy for AMCOM and ACC/ECC into one directorate, creating an acquisition law "center of excellence" and promoting synergies and efficiencies in this legal domain. We have also combined our litigation mission and functions, enabling us to leverage the unique skills of our AMC litigation attorneys to effectively manage the increasing challenges of contract and protest cases. The Office of Command Counsel will maintain a separate legal office in keeping with its responsibilities for oversight of AMC's worldwide legal operations.
Legal services at Rock Island Arsenal have largely been consolidated for some time. Our current effort will combine the small Tank-automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) legal office supporting the Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center (JMTC), with the much larger Army Sustainment Command legal office. The consolidated legal office will be known as the Army Materiel Command Legal Center -- Rock Island Arsenal (ALC-RIA), and led by the Chief Counsel, Ms. Kathryn Szymanski. It will provide legal services to the Army Sustainment Command, the Joint Munitions Command, JMTC, the Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, and their subordinate commands and activities. The office will also provide legal services to Garrison and tenant activities on Rock Island.
It has been an extraordinary privilege to lead our tremendously talented legal workforce--the best in the business. Our attorneys and paraprofessionals are highly dedicated public servants who consistently achieve outstanding results, whether behind the desk, in the courtroom, or deployed in theater.
As we move forward to assist our leaders in carrying out AMC's worldwide mission, I believe the consolidation of our legal functions at our three AMC Centers of Excellence will help set the conditions for success. We will maintain excellence in every legal domain, while enhancing our efficiency and effectiveness. We will be well postured to meet future challenges-- agile, responsive, and resilient. One law firm. Army strong!
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