The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) continues to promote its commitment to Army readiness, industrial growth, and technological development in ways that reflect they are solidly aligned with Pentagon and Department of Defense (DoD) goals and objectives. Case in point, the CECOM/C4ISR Pilot Mentor Protégé Program and Small Business initiatives clearly indicate just how forward moving CECOM is with regards to the role it plays in supporting Army interests and Senior leadership demands.
CECOM Commanding General and Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) Senior Commander Maj. Gen. Bruce T. Crawford has been both consistent and firm in his message on Army readiness, and during a recent CECOM/C4ISR Pilot Mentor-Protégé Program Kickoff Meeting on APG with DoD and CECOM Small Business representatives, seized the opportunity to emphasize the small business connection to the Army readiness effort. During his address Crawford said, "Our 39th Chief of Staff of the Army has said, and he's been very clear in his messaging, that for the Army, 'readiness is the number one priority -- and there are no other number ones'. As we go throughout our events today, and the many discussions that we're going to have about the Mentor-Protégé Program, and about Small Business, there are a couple of things that I want you to think about. At the very top of that list, and what I challenge you --- is I want to link the great work…the difference that our Small Business has made over the years, to readiness. The entire department, the ship is turning from an Army that's been mostly, in the last 14 years, in continuous conflict--to an Army that is still going to be very busy."
With 190,000 Soldiers currently deployed, Maj. Gen. Crawford's challenge to the small business assembly could not have been more timely or appropriate. The CECOM Commander went on to say, "What I want to do is to make sure that small business is linked to that readiness effort, because I know that you are contributing, and a lot of people don't know it. They see the end result of your work. What they don't see, is everything that you're doing to contribute to readiness. And so this is for the entire team --I want you to think through that, and it could be training, it could be leader development. It could be innovation. There are a lot of great things that you're doing, but just think about how we can link the great work that is happening in our small business community to the over-arching readiness effort, so that we can make sure that our Army continues, and that DoD continues to recognize that linkage as we move forward." Taking a quote from Army Materiel Command (AMC) Commanding Gen. Dennis L. Via, Maj. Gen. Crawford said, "This community is open for business."
The Small Business kickoff drew a host of rank and file attendees. Among them were Kenyata L. Wesley, Acting Director for the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs; Nancy D. Small, Director of U.S. Army Materiel Command, Office of Small Business Program; Pamela Moore, Mentor Protégé and Subcontracting Program Manager, Office of Small Business Programs, Office of the Secretary of the Army; Deandria Cumberbatch, Mentor-Protégé Program Manager--Support Contractor New Concepts Management Solutions, Office of Small Business Programs, Office of the Secretary of the Army; and Richard Harris, Jr., Mentor- Protégé Program, Program Manager, CECOM Office of Small Business Programs.
Guest speakers provided small and large business representatives with a host of information topics that included, but were not limited to corporate infrastructure activities, proposal wording, GSA compliance, pricing, technology transfer activities, evaluation criteria, reimbursable costs, unallowable costs, types of agreements, benefits, and lessons learned.
Responsible for the oversight of DoD Small Business Programs and Policy, to include SBIR/STTR, Rapid Innovation Fund, The Mentor-Protégé Program, STEM, Small Business Workforce reshaping, as well as Outreach, and Indian Incentive Programs, Mr. Wesley provided the Small Business gathering with extensive and insightful information regarding the way ahead for those willing to embrace the challenges ahead for the Mentor-Protégé Small Business community. He said, "The purpose of Maj. Gen. Crawford having this kickoff was to get the discussion started. That's what this is about. It's to introduce you. You've got to have the guts to step up and shake a hand, exchange a card, and tell a little bit about yourself, and why somebody should choose you to either mentor you -- or you pick them as a mentor. You're looking for three things --Win! Win! Win!"
Wesley went on to explain his win position by stating, "As a protégé, small business is expecting certain deliveries if you're going to be a mentor -- and that's whether it be helping with security clearances, facilities clearances, or whether it be actually setting up and helping them find work. Mentors expect a couple of things. They expect DoD to reimburse them for those hours in manpower. They also expect that if they don't get the reimbursable, that they get credit, or increased credit for their subcontracting performance and utilizing you going forward on contracts, and then they expect a win for the government."
Summing up his address, Wesley then added, "There's a bunch of warfighters that depend on everything you deliver every day. It's not just about being here to make a profit. We expect you to do that. We want you to do that. Let me say it again, the Department wants you to make a profit. I know that's hard to believe. But if you don't make a profit, you won't be around. I always tell my small business leadership, and all of my commanders that I run into and that I meet…and I hear their concerns and their challenges. I tell them that the number one role of a small business professional is to ensure that they have an agile and responsive small business industrial base going forward to meet their needs. That's their number one role. I always tell them they're small business industrial-based consultants.
"The reason I tell them that is because at the end of the day, one of the things they will have to do, is that they've got to be able to find capability gaps and match those capabilities with the right customer who needs them at the right time. Timing is everything. Relationships are important and one of the key successes of this program that we're adding down to Aberdeen Proving Ground, is the fact that relationships matter. You must find the right partner to team with, in order to be successful."
Drawing on his own CECOM experience, Wesley said that in his view, no one does readiness better than the Army Materiel Command. He said, "There's a lot of history with Team APG --whether it be research and development. Whether it be communications and electronics, C3T, electronic warfare and sensors or chemical biological, if you can name it…it's here. That also means as you heard Maj. Gen. Crawford when he referred to the words used by General Via, that 'we're open for business'. I would like to say the 'Department is open for business' and it starts with various major buying commands, and buying organizations that reside right here at Aberdeen Proving Ground. As a part of being able to be open for business, they need an industrial base that is shaped, prepared, responsive, and agile -- that can actually deliver for them when called upon"
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