PICATINNY ARSENAL, NJ (Dec. 8, 2014) -- Despite periods of uncertainty and budget constraints, the United States Army represents a tremendous opportunity for exciting and rewarding careers as the Army seeks to maintain its technology edge, the Army's top materiel officer said here recently.
Gen. Dennis L. Via, Commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command or AMC, made his remarks Dec. 1 during a visit that included the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness to ensure dominant land force capability for the U.S. warfighter and our allies.
About 2,500 members of the AMC workforce retire each year, which translates into opportunities for student interns, who Via described as the "seed corn" of the future in which the Army must invest.
"While we go through periods when we face uncertainty--it happens after a war--at some point we will work our way through this and there will be tremendous opportunities for them in the future," said Via, who took command of AMC in August 2012.
The U.S. Army is the most advanced army every known, largely because of its technological advantages and places like Picatinny Arsenal that provide those advances, Via said. The key is to keep looking ahead at the next "leap-ahead" technologies that need to be developed and acquired, he added.
"Picatinny is going to continue to play a critical role in support of our United States Army and support of the Department of Defense," Via said. "They are the munitions and armament experts. They provided this capability for well over 90 years. It has an enduring presence and capability so I think its role is going to continue to be important going forward."
The general said that among the biggest challenges of the Army Materiel Command is to perform its mission within the resources provided.
"We will always have far more requirements--we always do, always have--in the area of logistics and technology systems, capabilities and sustainment," Via said.
Meeting mission requirements and maintaining readiness of personnel and equipment present challenges during a period of sequestration, Via said, noting that the Army must have a state of readiness so that Soldiers can deploy and be effective, regardless of whether it is a combat situation or contingency operation.
Via noted that budget constraints reflected in sequestration and job furloughs can produce anxiety and concerns about job security among the workforce. In one of his previous assignments, Via was commander of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, which closed in 2011 under the Base Relocation and Closure (BRAC) act by Congress.
"The stress is there, but I think it's important just to continue to talk about, not so much focus on the money we're not receiving, but the resources that we are receiving and leverage that to the best of our ability," the general said. "And to continue to train our workforce, and continue to meet our mission requirements, and continue to support our civilians, our Soldiers and our families."
The AMC commander also said that maintaining a resilient workforce is a key objective.
"We have great people, both officers and non-commissioned officers, Army civilians and contractors, who have been supporting the Army and joint forces for well over 13 years," he said. "We have to ensure that they are ready--mentally, physically and spiritually--to continue the stressful work that they do every day."
The research and development center at Picatinny is a subordinate organization of the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command at Aberdeen, Maryland, which reports to the Army Materiel Command.
By designation of the Secretary of Defense and an act of Congress, Picatinny Arsenal is the Department of Defense's Joint Center of Excellence for Armaments and Munitions. Picatinny's portfolio comprises nearly 90 percent of the Army's lethality and all conventional ammunition for joint warfighters.
---
The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.
RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness--technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection and sustainment--to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it.
Social Sharing