PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - The Picatinny community welcomed employee James Shields as the newest member of the Army's Senior Executive Service during a ceremony here Jan. 11.
Shields currently serves as the Deputy Program Executive Officer for Ammunition and has 22 years of government service here.
"It's great to have Jim in the PEO Ammo family because he served his whole career here at Picatinny and he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience into the ammo enterprise," said Program Executive Officer for Ammunition and installation Senior Mission Commander Brig. Gen. Jonathan A. Maddux, who hosted the ceremony.
Members of the SES serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. SES members are the major link between these appointees and the rest of the federal work force.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 states that the purpose of the SES is to ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, polices, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.
Before Shields was assigned to his current position in November of last year he served as the joint program manager for the lightweight 155 mm howitzer in the Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems.
"Jim was instrumental in the success of many Army programs and is well respected in his field from an acquisition prospective, but he also brings that technical experience from the programs he has worked," Maddux said.
"For these and many other reasons we are very delighted and proud to welcome Jim to SES rank and we look forward to working with you as our team continues to provide support to our warfighters during this critical time in our nation's history," Maddux said.
In Shields' current position, he is responsible for the integration of people, infrastructure, technologies and processes across multiple organizations to provide lifecycle support for conventional munitions, including their integration with current and future weapon systems to support the warfighter and Foreign Military Sales customers.
Along with the PEO, Shields shares the responsibility for consolidating each program manager's assigned mission into coherent programs that span all budget appropriations.
Shields attributed his success to the team of leaders he has worked for and with over the years.
"The formula for success is quite simple. You did the right thing, and you did it to the best of your ability," Shields said while addressing the audience.
"When I was a program manager there were four or five programs I was ultimately responsible for. Well now there are four or five hundred programs under PEO Ammunition," Shields said.
However, he said he is looking forward to the increased responsibility of serving as the DPEO and believes he can handle the challenge.
Shields is also responsible for providing lifecycle management to all the military services as the PEO is designated as the single manager for conventional ammunition.
Shields is the fourth active member of the SES here, joining Dr. Joseph A. Lannon, director of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, John Hedderich, director of the Munitions Engineering Technology Center, and David Castellano, director of the Weapons and Software Engineering Center.
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