My last job in the Army was also the strangest.

In the spring of 2014, I came to the Pentagon after spending 10 years in Michigan as Program Executive Officer (PEO) Ground Combat Systems, then PEO Combat Support and Combat Service Support. As a PEO, I was familiar with the System of Systems Engineering and Integration (SoSE&I) Directorate, under the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)). Like others in the PEO community, I thought SoSE&I sometimes brought value and much needed capability, but just as often got in the way.

Now I was taking over as SoSE&I Executive Director, with direction from the Army Acquisition Executive (AAE) to work cross-portfolio integration on critical Army priorities. The list included not just the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) and Capability Set fielding that had traditionally been SoSE&I's domain, but also cyber acquisition, the Common Operating Environment (COE), and eventually Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT).

Click the "Related Link" to read the full article in Army AL&T Magazine.