Australia program manager honored

By USASAC Public AffairsJune 16, 2015

Australia program manager honored
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – USASAC's Ryan Nichols received the Army Civilian Achievement Medal for superior performance during his tenure as the Aviation and Missile Command security assistance management division country program manager for the foreign military sale of Chinook... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Australia program manager honored
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The U.S. Army Materiel Command security assistance enterprise is about building relationships with partner countries.

Ryan Nichols, of the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, knows this firsthand. He supported the foreign military sale of Chinooks (CH-47F) as an Aviation and Missile Command security assistance management division country program manager for Australia before becoming a USASAC manager for seven Europe Regional Command nations in February.

Nichols acknowledged that while his position at USASAC may have a broader focus, the mission is part of the larger enterprise and remains the same -- providing security assistance to build partner capacity and strengthen global relationships.

Nichols, who has served as a logistics management specialist and an international program manager for the Australian CH-47 program, said he was amazed at the coordination and detailed team effort it took to develop the case.

Throughout his tenure as the logistics lead, he was in charge of the government furnished equipment for AMCOM and the Communications-Electronics Command.

"During the execution phase of the project, the SAMD team grew from one person to three people," Nichols said. "Each member of the team had their specified functional areas, program management, logistics, finance and engineering."

Nichols was also in charge of the program management for the Transport Flight Proficiency Simulator visual database and hardware delivery.

He said the case turned out to be one of Australia's largest purchases, totaling approximately $354 million in foreign military sale dollars.

The CH-47 is the Army's primary heavy troop and supply transport aircraft. It was originally fielded in the Vietnam War and has since undergone a series of modernizations to increase lift and reliability in various combat environments.

Nichols said the letter of request for the case was received in 2009 and the letter of offer and acceptance was signed in March 2010. He credited the case's success to a lot of team effort, "not just from the U.S. government side, but AMCOM as well as the Security Assistance Management Division (SAMD), CH-47 PM (program manager), CECOM, USASAC and the team of Australian foreign liaison officers."

In early 2014, Nichols became the AMCOM international program manager for the Australian FMS case. He managed a team of three people and oversaw all aspects of the FMS case to ensure all of Australia's needs were being met. Nichols left the program to accept a job at USASAC in February, one month before the first CH-47F was delivered to Australia. He said he worked with more than 40 members of Australia, including seven local FLOs and members of the Australian project office.

"I enjoyed working with the Australians; they are great and very reasonable people," Nichols said. "I consider all of the Australians I worked with on these projects, my friends to this very day.

"It was a great program, and it would not have been nearly as successful without my AMCOM SAMD colleagues, the Australian FLOs and the assistance from my CH-47 program integrator."

Nichols was awarded an Army Civilian Achievement Medal for his support of the program.

With that professional accomplishment under his belt, Nichols said he is not slowing down. At USASAC he now oversees a broad range of materiel and equipment requirements for Armenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia.

"The biggest challenge for me is going from managing one country, with one program, to seven countries with all varying weapon programs," he said.

He said it's a learning curve, but one that he welcomes. Nichols said the joy of it is discovering something new every day.

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U.S. Army Security Assistance Command