REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Readiness is not a destination; it is a journey. For the Army Civilian Corps, Career Program Managers are critical enablers of that journey. That was the message of Army Materiel Command's leaders, and Total Force Training and Division presenters during a CPM Summit, Sept. 10-12.
Hosted by AMC Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel Max Wyche, the summit brought together about 40 civilian leaders from its 10 major subordinate commands, representing nearly all of the command's 31 Career Programs. Attendees learned about changes within the Army Civilian Development Program, shared best practices and discussed what it means to be a Ready Army Civilian.
"Civilians have a choice, and we want our civilians to choose to use their skills and experience to improve Army readiness," AMC Executive Deputy to the Commanding General Lisha Adams told the Career Program Managers Sept. 12.
The Army transitioned every civilian employee into one of 31 career programs in 2010, and then added Cyber as the 32nd career program last year. AMC has Command Career Program Managers at the headquarters, and Activity Career Program Managers at each major subordinate command across all 31 of the original CPs. Guided by Army Regulation 690-950, they facilitate the training, education and professional development of the civilians in their career program.
"This summit is about how to make your career fields and career programs better," said Sonny Chestang, AMC deputy chief of staff for personnel, G-1.
A common theme during presentations and discussion was the need for change. Skillsets required of civilians are vastly different today than what they were during WWII when the civilian workforce was predominantly in blue collar, factory jobs, said Adams. Today, civilians fill highly technical positions and leadership roles.
"We have evolved from the Industrial Age to the Information Age," she said. "We must have the ability to change and adapt."
To better understand and use the multiple systems and sites that aide in training, development and career management, attendees also rotated through hands-on training on Army Career Tracker, GoArmyEd, and the Civilian Human Resources Training Application System.
At the end of the summit, Wyche stressed that success would be measured by what happens in the coming months.
"This is about action," Wyche said. "We have a lot of work to do to take what we've discussed here and turn it into action."
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