PM MAS wins 2016 Army Acquisition's Project Management Team of the Year Award

By Lauren PoindexterDecember 16, 2016

PM MAS at Picatinny Arsenal wins Army Acquisition Team of the Year Award
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- Under the leadership of Col. Moises Gutierrez, the Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems team has won Project Management Team of the Year (O6 Level) for the 2016 Army Acquisition Executive's Excellence in Leadership Award.

PM MAS, part of the Program Executive Office Ammunition at Picatinny, provides small, medium and large caliber ammunition to U.S. troops and coalition partners. Through the vast MAS portfolio of munitions, every U.S. Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine and Coast Guardsman will fire at least one MAS product during their career.

"We were surprised and honored," Gutierrez said of the award. "I'm very proud of the great accomplishments of the great women and men of PM MAS. Often the great efforts of this multidimensional team go unrecognized, and I'm glad to see that their dedication and hard work is being recognized."

The award honors individuals and teams whose outstanding contributions and achievements merit special recognition. It also recognizes the project management and project director office team whose outstanding contributions and achievements in excellence merit special recognition.

"As Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems, Col. Gutierrez provided leadership, acquisition expertise and sound programmatic direction to a broad portfolio of direct-fire munitions," said James Shields, Program Executive Officer Ammunition. "Gutierrez's exceptional leadership and dedication are a model for all acquisition Project Managers."

"PM MAS manages an annual budget of more than $1 billion to acquire legacy ammunition and develop new ammunition items procured through 105 active contracts. These dollars and contracts support the delivery of more than 300 separate munitions items to U.S. and Coalition customers, and enable the U.S. to maintain the capability and readiness of our munitions industrial base," said Shields.

"Direct fire ammunition is a full-contact sport," said Gutierrez. "We are responsible for the development, production and performance of a broad spectrum of ammunition fired from handguns all the way to the 122mm D30 Howitzer that the Afghan National Army uses. The team understands that without a full commitment and detailed effort, our warfighter's lives are at risk. It is this perspective that fundamentally fuels the energy every person in PM MAS puts into their daily work."

Gutierrez led the PM MAS team in the planning and execution of over $1 billion dollars of Research, Development, Test and Evaluation and Production Ammunition Army dollars, while delivering over 880 million cartridges to all branches of the Armed Forces.

Gutierrez oversees a portfolio of direct fire ammunition developmental, production and recapitalization programs, with products ranging from 5.56 mm ammunition for the M4 and M249 family of individual weapons to 120 mm ammunition for the Abrams Main Battle Tank.

In its role as Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition (SMCA) role, PM MAS acquires products for all the Services, to include Navy and Air Force service-unique ammunition for fixed wing aircraft and Navy-unique ammunition for shipboard weapons.

PM MAS also buys significant quantities of Non-Standard Ammunition (NSA) from various sources in Eastern Europe to support CONUS and OCONUS customers, including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Some of Gutierrez's accomplishments include:

--Leading a response to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment's Operational Need Statement for increased lethality for the Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle in Europe.

--Working with PEO Ground Combat Systems/PM Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the Army Test & Evaluation Command to craft and pitch the overarching strategy to leverage work already done under the Future Combat Systems and Ground Combat Vehicle programs to initiate an effort to rapidly acquire, test, produce and field four different 30mm cartridges, two tactical rounds and two training rounds in support of a planned fiscal year 2018 Urgent Material Release.

--Progressing the M829A4, the 5th generation 120mm Kinetic Energy cartridge, which is the most lethal anti-tank round in the world. During this period, which saw the program complete type classification standard, full materiel release and enter into full rate production, Gutierrez worked tirelessly to ensure that the product management team was able to focus on production delivery issues, while still having the additional resources needed to solve a critical single-point failure when the original supplier for the material for the composite sabot exited the industry.

-Overseeing an urgent requirement from Afghanistan to acquire critically needed S-8 rockets for Afghan attack helicopters.

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