AMCOM reflects on 2018's accomplishments and special events

By Tawana TownsendDecember 18, 2018

The year 2018 is almost over, so all of us here at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command are taking a moment to reflect on some of the outstanding achievements our team has accomplished this year. And, since we're in the holiday spirit, we thought we'd share this year's accomplishments and special events in a festive (sort of) way. So, here's to all of the AMCOM workforce, the commands and organizations that made 2018 a success. But, instead of entertaining you with a rousing rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas," we're sharing AMCOM's Top 12 Highlights for the year that was 2018.

1 AMCOM Job Fair hosted - AMCOM G1 staff and other Redstone agencies' Human Resources personnel met with more than 1,200 job seekers at the AMCOM Job Fair, held in May. This was the first time AMCOM hosted a job fair in more than a decade and it was a tremendous success.

2 AMCOM 101s conducted -- AMCOM hosted its annual "101" events for the aviation and missile communities. The AMCOM 101 for Missiles, with more than 90 attendees, was held in September. The AMCOM 101 for Aviation, with more than 280 participants, was held in October. The AMCOM 101s were an opportunity for AMCOM leadership to collaborate with aviation and air defense units' leadership across the Army on best practices, lessons learned and to receive feedback from the field.

3 Major Awards earned - AMCOM's Deputy to the Commanding General, William P. Marriott, accepted the FY17 Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award from Secretary of the Army, Dr. Mark T. Esper, at the Pentagon, June 25. Marriott was instrumental in the effort to work with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) to resolve warranty issues with original equipment manufacturers. In addition, he successfully gained buy-in from AMCOM's partners to clear unliquidated obligations in order to meet established goals, which reduced the total unliquidated obligations by more than $100 million this year.

John Shipley, Director of Special Programs (Aviation) and Executive Director of the Aviation Integration Directorate (AID), received his third Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award in July. Shipley is a legend in the aviation community with over 35 years of Federal service and is a member of the Army aviation General Officer Steering Committee. AID is responsible for the development, acquisition, modernization, fielding and sustainment of the Army's Special Operations Forces fleet and is the airworthiness release authority of the Army's Special Operations Forces aviation assets.

Once again, numerous Team Redstone organizations were recognized by AMCOM for Value Engineering and Life Cycle Cost Reduction projects that achieved significant savings and addressed Army readiness. Collectively, the awards recognized 95 VE projects representing a record-setting $331 million in savings and cost avoidance for local organizations and $33 million in savings for 14 field locations around the world. Additional benefits include mitigated obsolescence, improved capability, reduced cycle time, relieved Soldier burden and inserted technology.

4 EXPRESS Contracts awarded - Army Contracting Command-Redstone added additional prime contracts under all four domains -- Programmatic, Technical, Logistics and Business & Analytical domains - to the EXPRESS contract, which will benefit AMCOM's key readiness priorities, enabling improved supply availability which results in sustained high readiness rates.

5-Star Item Managers - This year was designated as the "Year of the Item Manager." During the year, AMCOM launched several initiatives dedicated to the item managers' role in strengthening AMCOM's supply chain and increasing the Army's aviation and missile readiness. AMCOM developed four Item Manager foundational courses: Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Material Master and Supply Chain Planning and Reporting Tool.

6 FMX Sites maintaining - This is a shout out to some of the AMCOM employees who don't work on Redstone Arsenal. They are the ones who keep the training equipment maintained at the six Fleet Management Expansion sites at Fort Rucker, Ala.; Joint Base Eustis-Langley, Va.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Bliss, Texas; and Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

7 Command Updates held - Demonstrating how AMCOM is achieving readiness by optimizing the supply chain and the depots was the cornerstone of AMCOM's quarterly updates to the commander of the Army Materiel Command, Gen. Gus Perna. AMCOM Commander, Maj. Gen. Doug Gabram, and his staff briefed the AMC commander quarterly on how AMCOM is working to meet Perna's intent of achieving 100 percent supply availability and 100 percent Performance to Promise. Adding to the four updates to AMC, Maj. Gen. Gabram also held three AMCOM town hall meetings during which he briefed the AMCOM workforce on the present and future state of the command, answered employees questions and presented awards to the workforce.

8 Shape the Fight efforts ongoing - Based on Army Materiel Command's Shape the Fight policies and outcomes as a guide, AMCOM's Shape the Fight Team spent the year defining the mission, applying business rules and developing courses of action to complete Stages 1 and 2 of the initiative. AMCOM is restructuring to best synchronize, integrate and deliver aviation and missile materiel readiness to the Army's warfighters.

9 AMCOM External Engagements - AMCOM leaders represented the command at several forums, symposiums and meetings throughout 2018, meeting with members of other Army commands, industry partners and elected officials to ensure Soldiers have the properly maintained equipment they need for any mission. The AMCOM leadership participated in panels, boards and forums at several events. The highlights of 2018 include the Team Redstone Advance Planning Briefing to Industry and the AUSA Global Force Symposium, both held in Huntsville in March; the 2018 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit in Nashville and the Defense Logistics Agency Senior Executive Partnership Roundtable in Richmond, Va., both in April; the 14th Luther G. Jones Army Aviation Depot Forum, held in Corpus Christi, Texas in June; the Worldwide Aviation Logistics Conference, held in Huntsville in July; the 46th annual Joseph P. Cribbins Aviation Product Sustainment Symposium, held in Huntsville in November and the Redstone Arsenal Update for Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, both held in Huntsville in November. AMCOM's leaders spoke about the balance between current and future needs, strategic supply depth, as well as the need for Army aviation and missile assets to be ready for any and all contingencies.

10 Readiness Drivers identified - A readiness driver is a critical repair part that will deadline a system and is essential to equipment operation. AMCOM defines sufficient stock to be three times the average monthly demand with no backorders over 30 days. Identifying and stocking the readiness drivers are a means of prioritizing how to go after the goal of supply availability. One of the major initiatives in building supply availability is to identify the top 10 readiness drivers for both our aviation and missile platforms, which AMCOM has done. Thanks AMCOM Logistics Center!

11 New Senior Leaders and Staff -- During 2018, AMCOM welcomed several new senior leaders: AMCOM Command Sergeant Major, Command Sgt. Maj. Mike Dove; Missile Maintenance Chief, CW4 Araceli Rial; Director of G-8 Dale Smith; Director of G-4, Craig Northridge; Director of Public & Congressional Affairs, Lisa Hunter; Command Chaplain, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Charles Lahmon; Secretary of the General Staff, Joyce Myers; Commander of Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), Col. Gail Atkins; CCAD Command Sergeant Major, Command Sgt. Maj. Patricia A. Wahl; Commander of the Aviation Center Logistics Command, Col. Richard Martin; and Acting Executive Director of the AMCOM Logistics Center, Don Nitti.

12 Workforce Development Initiatives -- AMCOM G-1's Training Team working with the AMCOM Logistics Center staff launched or revamped 12 workforce development ventures. These efforts resulted in new training focused on provisioning, a revamped AMCOM Leadership Investment for Tomorrow (LIFT) program, quarterly Garrison Training and Education Consortiums and the establishment of an AMCOM G-1 Training Organizational Advisor.

We at AMCOM would like to take this opportunity to thank the AMCOM workforce and all of our partners here on Redstone Arsenal and the Huntsville community for making this year a resounding mission success! We wish for you all good health, happiness and continued success in the New Year!