ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command’s leadership hosted the first quarterly town hall of the calendar year in the Myer Auditorium Feb. 27, 2024. Leadership provided updates and feedback to the CECOM workforce on upcoming events, employee benefits, SHARP protocols, and training. The hybrid town hall boasted more than 1,000 tuning in online from around the world and a packed auditorium.
Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edmonson II, senior commander of APG and commanding general of CECOM, opened the town hall by updating the workforce about his travels this year in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area.
A big takeaway from that trip, he said, was seeing CECOM’s forward repair activity. Forward repair activity is critical because it enables Soldiers to receive the equipment they need faster. He said everyone at CECOM is involved in forward repair efforts in some shape or form.
“[Forward repair activity] is hugely important because of the readiness requirements all around the globe, and they are not all the same everywhere, all the time.”
Edmonson said he also recently had the opportunity to brief Gen. Charles Hamilton, commanding general of Army Materiel Command. Edmonson summarized the slide he presented to Hamilton, showcasing CECOM’s strategic initiatives.
“Whether it’s hardware, software or repair—it falls into his lines of effort,” Edmonson stated. “We understand the priorities; we understand the lines of effort.”
Edmonson then updated the workforce on upcoming events:
- AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exposition: March 26-28, 2024
- Advance Planning and Briefing to Industry: April 22-25, 2024
- Cyber Electromagnetic Activity Conference: April 30 – May 2, 2024
- Army birthday and Military Appreciation Night: June 14, 2024
- C5ISR Hall of Fame: June 26-27, 2024
Edmonson passed the floor to CECOM Command Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Conaty, who discussed how the Armed Forces Wellness Center offers programs and services to help CECOM teammates reach their health goals. Service members, family members, retirees, and Department of Defense civilians are eligible to receive AFWC services for free, he added.
AFWC has six standardized core programs aligned with the U.S. Community Preventive Services Task Force recommendations and designed to holistically empower clients to improve health and build readiness. At APG, the AFWC is part of Kirk U.S. Army Health Clinic.
“You can’t do the work you do without taking care of yourself,” Conaty said. “This is something I wanted to share with you all because you are all important to me. The work that you do for our Army is invaluable and we can’t do it without you.”
Continuing in the theme of People First, Edmonson and Conaty welcomed Tracy Marshall, program manager of the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Program. She gave an overview on the SHARP Fusion Directorate, which is being restructured.
Significant changes include:
- Unit-level Sexual Assault Response Coordinators/Victim Advocates will be consolidated on the senior commander’s TDA and report directly to the lead SARC outside the chain of command.
- Full-time, installation-based response workforce
- New professional and programmatic oversight structure at major command through secretariat-level
- New qualification requirements for the sexual assault response workforce
- “No Wrong Door Approach” to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and domestic violence implemented across services.
Edmonson added similar changes are happening across other Army installations.
“Nothing has changed overnight for you, the support systems that we have here at APG and across the globe are still intact,” he said.
Following the SHARP presentation, Pamela Hanas with G1 Talent Management Division shared some upcoming training and development opportunities.
- Enterprise Civilian Talent Development
- Civilian Education System
- Emerging Leaders Program
- Practical Introduction to Supervising Employees
- Leading from the Front
- Strategically Leading Organizations
- FY24 Professional Development Courses
According to Hanas, information about upcoming training events is on the G1 SharePoint Training Calendar, which is updated frequently.
“Supervisors and managers, if you have any training needs for your team or employees, please feel free to reach out to the G1 Talent Management Division,” Hanas said. “We are here to get those folks scheduled, registered and, most importantly, funded.”
Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions to leadership throughout the meeting. The town hall concluded with a brief award ceremony to recognize the C5ISR Team of the Quarter, FY24, first quarter; 2023 C5ISR Top Ten Personnel of the Year; the retirement of Sgt. 1st Class Michael Guayante; and various team members’ length of service.
Edmonson closed out the town hall by reminding the team of the importance of their work, “Where you see Soldiers, you see CECOM.”
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