CECOM town hall recaps AMC visit, COVID policies

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. –The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command virtual town hall focused on COVID-19 policies, employee feedback, acquisition, resiliency and more, Feb. 22.

CECOM Commanding General Maj. Gen. Robert Edmonson II thanked the workforce for their hard work. He said they “hit the ground running” in 2022.

“You never know when America’s sons and daughters are going to be called,” he said. “You never know when your hardware, your software, your responsibility, your influence is going to be on display, and right now I can tell you, you are doing great work.”

Telework policies

Edmonson said the intent of flexibility in the workplace is to continuously innovate the command’s workplace culture to improve employee work-life balance and provide CECOM the competitive edge necessary to attract and retain the best talent.

Edmonson said, “we are continuing to maintain a level of HPCON that will keep all employees safe.” At the time of the CECOM town hall, APG was in Health Protection Condition Bravo Plus; on March 2, the status changed to HPCON Bravo. This status change allowed CECOM to move from 40% to 50% as the maximum percentage of employees on site.

He challenged attendees to have an ongoing dialogue with their supervisors regarding this subject.

“Child or dependent care cannot be the primary reason for telework,” he said.

Future telework policies are being explored by AMC and CECOM.

“We want to make sure we get this right,” he said.

Daly visit

Edmonson said Army Materiel Commander Gen. Ed Daly visited APG and Tobyhanna Depot for a tri-annual update. He called it an “awesome engagement.” Discussion topics included business and modernization, strategic and tactical readiness and the Army's People First initiative. This engagement helped confirm the CECOM team is headed in the right direction.

Edmonson said Daly emphasized that to achieve long-term solutions, we might have to break the mold.

He called this “sensible skepticism and responsible rebelliousness.” Critical thought is good, he said.

He congratulated Felisha Berry, and Robert Brooks, with the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command, for receiving the Black Engineer of the Year Award.

He called them modern-day technology leaders.

Voice of employee

CECOM Command Sgt. Maj. Kristie Brady discussed the Federal Employment Viewpoint Survey. The annual survey administered by the Office of Personnel Management is open to all federal employees.

This survey will be sent out electronically in spring 2022. This will allow employees to provide feedback. This feedback is your vote, your voice, she said. This needs to be a priority.

“That is important for us to do the things we need to take to action to improve the organization,” she said.

The Command Climate Survey is annually administered by CECOM and is open to CECOM active duty and Army civilians. It will be sent electronically via e-mail March 2022. The purpose of the survey is to provide the commander with a tool to gather employees’ viewpoints at the unit level.

Previous results of the command climate survey include supervisory town halls; This is My Organization; and Practical Introduction to Supervising Employees.

Without feedback, we cannot grow, improve or build a better organization, she said.

Acquisition back-to-basics

CECOM Deputy to the Commanding General Larry Muzzelo discussed Back to Basics, the new certification and training framework for the acquisition workforce.

He said 14 career fields will be reduced to six functional areas. As we move forward with the acquisition workforce, he said there will be a much greater emphasis on credentials driven by the type of work and needs of specific individuals and the skills they require.

COVID-19 vaccination guidance

Chief of Current Operations Branch, in the G-3/5, Lara Orechovesky discussed COVID vaccination guidance. This information remains very fluid, changing routinely, so the best way to keep up-to-date with the latest information is to visit the CECOM SharePoint or the APG News website.

New suicide prevention initiative

Commander’s Ready and Resilient Council Integrator Sean Green discussed a new suicide prevention initiative called “Army suicide prevention chain teach.” This is a public health approach to suicide prevention based on the Centers for Disease Control suicide prevention effort.

Derived from a steady and tragic increase of suicides throughout the total Army family, Army suicide

prevention chain teach gives leaders at all levels the opportunity to:

● Execute actions that build resilience and strengthen protective factors

● Become aware of risk factors or warning signs

● Have knowledge of helping resources

● Reduce stigma and normalize help-seeking

This new Army approach addresses risk and protective factors further ahead of a potential crisis.

For more information, go to https://home.army.mil/apg/index.php/contact/crisis-phone-numbers

The suicide prevention chain teach must be completed by March 31, and the annual suicide prevention

training must be completed in the Total Employee Development platform by Sept. 30.