Hannah Somers is a human resource specialist with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command G1 Military Personnel Office. In her role as an HR specialist, she serves as a strength manager, overseeing personnel readiness, strength reporting, and human resources management within military units, ensuring accurate personnel accounting and operational readiness.
Somers explained that her role involves managing the military’s vacant positions at CECOM. She handles requisitions, which are hiring actions, and informs the Army about available Soldier vacancies.
"We make sure that the TDA [Table of Distributions and Allowances] reflects what we need,” she said.
Creating a dashboard
In 2024, Somers, in collaboration with Human Resources Specialist Victoria Fuhrmann, created a G1 dashboard that serves as a reference for CECOM leadership to easily find information. Somers said at first, she was a little intimidated by the process, but used resources like Udemy classes, YouTube, and Microsoft Teams channels to communicate with other CECOM teammates.
Somers said using these resources helped them create a dashboard that was “still useful and not overly complicated the process.” Somers advises others to continually enhance their skills, as technology is constantly evolving.
“It (new technology) is not going away, so if you don’t learn, you are just kind of sticking your head in the sand and hoping it doesn’t touch you in some capacity,” she said.
Somers also recommended networking to connect with individuals who can assist in your learning journey. Participating in Tech Talks with the G6 allowed her to expand her network and meet others within the command. Additionally, she advised being open to trying new things for personal growth.
“There is nothing that we’re going to break so badly that we can’t fix it,” she said.
After creating the G1 dashboard, Somers branched off and created a large Soldier readiness dashboard for CECOM leadership. This restricted dashboard tracks medical readiness, whether the Soldier completed the Army Fitness Test, and flagging actions- when the commands place a suspension of favorable actions on a Soldier.
“So, all the metrics we would concern ourselves with the Soldier being lethal and available and ready to fight, we have a dashboard that tracks all that now,” Somers said.
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Somers believes it is important for all employees to learn about artificial intelligence. The extended furlough in October and November last year also highlighted the importance of AI platforms, as the platforms were a big help in answering questions when so many resources had been furloughed.
Veteran supporting Soldiers
Somers has been with CECOM since July 2024, but she has worked in and around Soldier support and care since 2004. Somers was an Active Duty Soldier, then in the Army Reserves, and then the Active Guard Reserves program.
Throughout her career, she has held various positions, including supervisory staff administrator, training specialist, Army career counselor, and health readiness coordinator for the 108th Training Command during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her last assignment as a Soldier was an engineer first sergeant for the 361st Multi-Roll Bridge Company. Somers retired from the military in March 2025.
“Being a first sergeant was the absolutely best assignment and highlight of my career,” she said.
As a civilian, Somers said she also enjoyed leading the Individual Mobilization Augmentee program at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. This program assigns Reserve Soldiers to active-duty TDAs.
Somers said her grandfather influenced her decision to become a Soldier. Her grandfather served during World War II, the Korean War, where he was a Prisoner of War for three years, and the Vietnam War.
“When I turned 18, I thought, I have to do it,” she said, about joining the military.
Somers said she met some of her closest friends while serving in the Army.
“You just have a level of connection with other humans that you don’t get anywhere else,” she explained.
Somers said her favorite part of her job is helping Soldiers “hands down.” Given CECOM’s unique structure, with a higher proportion of civilians compared to Soldiers, the G1 Military Personnel Office also fulfills the role typically handled by a Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment. This includes processing Soldier leave, personnel actions, promotion boards, and pay actions.
“We are shockingly involved in every piece of the Soldier,” she said. “It is a lot more hands-on than a traditional HR role.”
Somers mentioned that her 21 years of experience as a Soldier have been beneficial to her.
“We directly impact Soldiers’ careers and their lives on a daily basis,” she said.
“Knowing that we are doing that in a way that ensures our Soldiers are taken care of is the big piece that motivates me.”
Somers is originally from Susanville in Northern California. In her free time, she enjoys reading murder mysteries and traveling, and is currently planning a family backpacking trip to Europe next summer.
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