ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, Oct. 16, 2008) -- After leading Army and Department of Defense agencies for more than 20 years, Army Senior Fellow Helen Tierney is stepping into a prominent Customs and Border Protection national security role.

Receiving a competitive promotion into the Senior Executive Service in September, Tierney has accepted a position with the Department of Homeland Security as the executive director for Planning, Program Analysis & Evaluation, Office of Field Operations

With about 24,000 employees, the Office of Field Operations is responsible for securing 326 ports of entry charged with intercepting potential threats and inadmissible people, goods and conveyances, while facilitating legitimate trade and travel. Tierney is slated to work on program analysis, policy development and implementation, measures and trends, strategic planning, and automation initiatives with other Department of Homeland Security senior leaders.

The Army Senior Fellows Program is a leadership program designed to identify and develop high-potential civilian leaders capable of meeting the complex leadership demands and challenges of today's dynamic national security environment, officials said. They said the program reinforces leadership skills through executive developmental assignments, executive education, talent management and succession planning for senior executives. Participants are selected by an Army Secretariat Board though a competitive process.

As an Army senior fellow, Tierney served as the director of Strategic Planning for the Army Contracting Task Force, led by the assistant military deputy for the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. Prior to this assignment, she served as the Installation Management Command's Resource Management, chief of Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation in Arlington, Va. Tierney was selected into the Army Senior Fellows program in July 2007.

Before joining the Army Senior Fellows Program, she served in a wide variety of key positions in both the United States and overseas. Tierney led installation Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs, served as a Congressional liaison, built command-wide communication strategies, worked as a strategic planner in a joint multi-national program, and helped drive Armywide implementation of state-of-the-art business practices while serving on the Army Financial Management and Comptroller Secretariat staff.

A 2007 distinguished graduate of the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Tierney holds a Master of Science degree in National Security Resource Strategy. Additionally, she earned a Master of Policy Management degree from the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Cornell University. Tierney is a certified Defense financial manager, and holds a Defense Acquisition Workforce Level II certification in Program Management. Tierney is the winner of the prestigious 2007 NDU Foundation award for excellence in writing, and the winner of an ICAF Commandant award for a research paper she co-authored on strategic language acquisition and education. She is also the recipient of many performance awards, to include two Commander's Awards, and five Superior Civilian Service Medals.

The Army Senior Fellows Program is now seeking GS-15/YC-3 applicants who are high-potential future civilian leaders for its third class. Deadline to apply is Jan. 31, 2009. Officials at the U.S. Army Civilian Senior Leader Development Office said that applicants should demonstrate:

Aca,!Ac Commitment to the Army, its Soldiers, Army Families and civilian employees

Aca,!Ac Competency to lead, direct, and evaluate programs and activities

Aca,!Ac Strong written and verbal communication skills

Aca,!Ac Diverse background

Aca,!Ac Interest in life-long learning and challenging self-development through education, experience and learning opportunities.

Applications instructions are found in the Army Civilian Training, Education, and Development System, or ACTEDS catalog, located at <a href= "http://cpol.army.mil/library/train/catalog/ch04asfp.html"target=_blank>http://cpol.army.mil/library/train/catalog/ch04asfp.html</a>

(Jill Mueller serves with the U.S. Army Civilian Senior Leader Development Office.)