REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – For Liz Miranda, plan A was to finish college and work in a big accounting firm, but the Army had a different idea for her.
“My plan B became my plan A,” said Miranda, who is now serving as Army Materiel Command’s highest ranking Army Civilian.
Miranda assumed responsibility as the AMC executive deputy to the commanding general Oct. 6. The Puerto Rico native began her service as an Army Civilian about 30 years ago. Her husband had transferred from the Navy Reserve to Army active duty, sending them to Kaiserslautern, Germany. At the time, the Regional Finance and Accounting Office was hiring about 40 people, and she started her career as a GS-5 accountant.
“I just loved it from day one. It was very transactional, processing payments for whatever the Army needed,” Miranda said. “I think what made me never look back is I really felt a sense of purpose and pride to serve the Soldiers. It was a very quick passion of mine.”
While her passion to serve has remained constant, Miranda’s career would change over time, starting primarily in finance and business before working in logistics.
“Having a business and logistics background gives me a different perspective; it helps me operationalize the business side,” she said. “It’s not always a business decision; it’s based on the operational end state.”
She started working in the AMC enterprise when her family returned from Germany, starting as an intern and working for Communications-Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. At CECOM, she worked her way from accounting intern to director for resource management. From there, she served as the director of CECOM’s Integrated Logistics Support Center, which provides Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance lifecycle support to ensure Soldiers are equipped and ready to execute missions.
As ILSC director, Miranda was responsible for developing a vision, strategy and implementation plans necessary to achieve an integrated enterprise approach to logistics for C5ISR weapon systems. She provided leadership and guidance to a global organization of more than 2,000 employees in more than 20 countries and 100 sites, with an annual budget in excess of $1.2 billion.
Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed. She was appointed into the Senior Executive Service in 2017 and would go on to become CECOM’s deputy to the commanding general in 2022. As the Army’s lead materiel integrator for C5ISR systems, she executed a $2 billion operating budget, maintained a fiscally viable Army Working Capital Fund, led a command focus on Army audit readiness objectives and effectiveness of internal controls, and was responsible for the performance of the Organic Industrial Base and the supply chain.
While serving as the CECOM deputy to the commanding general, Miranda championed Tobyhanna Army Depot’s OIB modernization plan with 50 projects valued at roughly $670 million through fiscal 2033. In addition, she drove increased supply chain performance and increased production capacity. The results include CECOM reaching a historic high 96% supply availability in 2023, reaching all-time low in backorders at 1,107 lines in 2022, and exceeding supply availability goals for the past eight years. As she reached these milestones, she kept the mission at the forefront.
“We get so wrapped up in the day to day that sometimes we don’t pause to think about why we’re here and what our purpose is,” Miranda said. “So, I always like to remind everyone. A lot of people consider this a job, but for many of us, this is a passion.”
As she enters this new chapter in her service, Miranda said she is excited to leverage existing capabilities to drive meaningful change, while increasing data-centricity at speed and scale, and investing in our “incredibly skilled and committed” civilian workforce. She also wants to assess how the AMC’s collective efforts are improving the climate and culture of the command, making AMC the best place to work.
“As an Army Civilian leader, it is also my responsibility to develop our current workforce and future Army Civilian leaders,” she said. “I am passionate about mentoring and coaching our emerging Army Civilian leaders and enabling their desired career paths.”
Across the command, Miranda encourages the workforce to always look for opportunities to do extraordinary things in an outstanding manner.
“Make a difference every day because, as Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing,’” she said. “Personally, I cannot think of a more important job than supporting our Soldiers and ensuring they are ready for combat. They are doing everything they can to protect us, so the least we can do for them is work hard every day, to support them the best way we can.”
Social Sharing