ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - “It’s hard to believe I’ve been here since 1974,” said Edward C. Thomas, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command deputy to the commanding general, as he reflects on his CECOM career before retiring this summer. “Thirty-seven years went by in a heartbeat.”
Much like today, Thomas entered into government service in a time of change. But as a comptroller intern fresh out of college, he had no idea that he’d one day help lead the effort for one of the largest Army logistical moves in history.
“I still remember the day I walked into the lobby of the CECOM office building in New Jersey to in-process,” Thomas recalled. He said there must have been a few hundred new personnel in line that day in the 600,000 square foot new office building lobby. “In front of me was Eddie Bair and behind me Tom Tanguay, two people I had never met. Little did I know that we would become great lifetime friends and colleagues,” Thomas said with a smile.
Thomas compares his first day on the job to what he imagines many CECOM new interns experience today.
“It was just a vibrant, new experience for so many people, and all of us were learning together,” said Thomas. Beginning his careers at the GS-05 level, he only hoped he would make it to GS-11 by retirement. He never thought he’d one day be one of the top senior leaders in the organization.
“At that time the annual salary was $7,000. And I remember thinking, ‘If I could ever get myself to the GS-9 level, and maybe even GS-11, I’d be good to go; that was my long-term plan,’” he said with a smile. He credits his success to a long list of supervisors and mentors he respected and who took an interest in his professional development throughout the years. “I’ve had a ‘charmed’ career.”
Today, Thomas reflects fondly on 37 years of change, evolution and relationships lasting a lifetime.
“Fort Monmouth and now APG [Aberdeen Proving Ground], really became, not only your job, and your career, but you became part of a family,” said Thomas. He chuckled at the thought of what he called his ‘crew’ the ‘Lancers,’ a social group he often played softball, basketball and bowling with during of his career.
With change being the only constant in Thomas’ career, he was often instrumental in driving changes to evolve the command as the times dictated.
In the 1980’s, CECOM was involved with the fielding of a battlefield communications network named the Mobile Subscriber Equipment. Thomas described this network as the first of its kind. The network operated much like a telephone system on the battlefield for the entire Army to utilize and was the starting point for the Army’s digitized battle command capabilities, explained Thomas.
In the 1990’s, the Army’s Vice-Chief of Staff ordered a study that resulted in CECOM receiving several new missions in software engineering; logistics systems; and other business applications the Army uses in day-to-day operations. Up until this study, CECOM had been primarily responsible for software related to tactical weapons systems, according to Thomas. As a result, CECOM evolved into a world-wide command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance organization it is known as today.
“We saw the growth potential as the Army, and the Nation, became more dependent on information technology. We saw the need to stand up a separate organization to fulfill our new mission requirements,” said Thomas. So, in 1996, the CECOM Software Engineering Center was created to streamline software support missions Army-wide with improved technological and cost-effectiveness.
Computers and information technology and software infrastructure soon became a top priority for the Army as the new millennium approached.
“Do you remember Y2K [Year 2000]?” asked Thomas. According to Thomas, CECOM had a great impact on the Army’s communications equipment in providing continuity of communications given the ambiguity of the new millennium as it relates to Army communications equipment. “Nothing bad happened. The clock struck midnight, the year turned over and nothing happened. That was a mission success,” he said.
He gives a great deal of credit to the CECOM workforce and their efforts in the last 10 years in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and now New Dawn.
“It’s just amazing to me how the people of our community, of CECOM, have responded to all of those day-to-day requirements, to provide support around the world, in the midst of having to uproot their families and move here from New Jersey, to APG,” said Thomas. CECOM personnel have been instrumental in not just military operations during his tenure, but also humanitarian missions in a variety of crisis situations.
September 11, 2011; a day most Americans can remember exactly what they were doing when the country was attacked on American soil. Thomas was called into a secure meeting with then Maj. Gen. William H. Russ, 9th CECOM commanding general, who led CECOM’s 9/11 rescue assistance efforts during 2001-2004.
“We gathered in the war room and he [Russ] just started asking open-ended questions about how we could help,” said Thomas. Russ challenged his leadership to identify CECOM and C4ISR capabilities that could assist with rescue operations.”
CECOM and C4ISR personnel answered the call to duty with people, technological support from the CECOM emergency response team in Sandy Hook, N.J., to assist in the efforts to help escort people who were fleeing Manhattan after the attacks and help reconstitute the Pentagon’s communications capabilities, Thomas recounted.
The C4ISR team provided antenna placements and portable listening devices to assist in the search and rescue efforts; probes equipped with an integrated micro-thermal camera to help rescue teams search for signs of life; portable laser Doppler vibro-meters to help monitor nearby structures for signs of potential collapse; and provided overhead shots of the area using geo registration capabilities to help the New York Fire Departments with situational awareness on the ground.
“We were really proud of the support we provided during such a dark time in our country’s history,” reflects Thomas.
Serving as deputy commanding general for the past four years, Thomas was instrumental in the efforts to establish CECOM as a Life-Cycle Management Command in 2005 to provide an integrated, holistic approach to product development, acquisition, system support and sustainment for customers across the Department of Defense and other government agencies. With that came the responsibility of nurturing a new partnership between the U.S. Army Material Command and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, commonly referred to as ASA/ALT. Today these team members comprise the C4ISR portion of the Army's Materiel Enterprise, one of four Army enterprises.
In the same year CECOM was designated as a life-cycle command, command leadership was notified that it would soon reside at APG, the Army’s new home to Army technology. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision brought about a, “[…] little bit of déjà vu,” said Thomas.
“When I started with CECOM, the command had just moved a large portion of its operations from Philadelphia to New Jersey, similar to a BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure] move before they called it BRAC.” Now, after 35 ½ years of service at Fort Monmouth, Thomas was faced with relocating to Maryland like the rest of the CECOM workforce. He understood the challenges and concerns of personnel and felt it was imperative that he, too, make the move South.
“I decided I was going to become one of the pioneers,” said Thomas. “If we were expecting the workforce at large to make the move, I felt it was important for them to know that their senior leadership was making the move too.”
And move he did; Thomas arrived at APG in February of 2009.
Thomas emphasized that the continuity of operations for a move of this magnitude can be a matter of life and death to a Soldier in the field. He boasts on the workforce’s dedication to the mission.
“You know, people could have slowed down, and even gone on strike, but they didn’t. Our workforce has always kept our bottom line in mind; our support to the Warfighter,” said Thomas. “They understood the importance of the work that they do and they just couldn’t have done it any better.”
Among many pivotal leaders during the command’s transition, Thomas credits Lt. Gen. Dennis L. Via, former CECOM commander and present AMC deputy commanding general, for leading the way to set conditions for a successful move, said Thomas.
Maintaining continuity of operations, retaining institutional knowledge, and providing uninterrupted support to the warfighter was first and foremost on CECOM leadership’s list implementation activities, said Thomas. He credits Via for leading the effort to gain permission for the command to recruit and hire in anticipation of out-going positions; establishing a forward presence and having the foresight to implement the move in phases; and securing temporary facilities and workspaces for forward personnel at APG while the new C4ISR Center of Excellence construction was being completed. Via charted the pathway for a successful move, according to Thomas.
Looking back on his 37-year career, Thomas feels lucky that he had mentors to help him along the way. Retired Lt. Gen. Al Mallette, Frank Fiorelli, and Vic Ferlise, taught him the value of understanding people while in a position of leadership. As a result of their leadership styles and his own experiences, Thomas adopted a leadership style of agility, flexibility, open communications, and being a team player.
Thomas decided to retire only after the biggest phase of the move had been completed. As he looks toward his new future, he boasts on doing a lot of nothing during the summer. “I decided that the summer was a better time to do nothing rather than the middle of winter,” he said with a smile. Thomas plans stay to in the Harford County area as he pursues a second career.
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