eadiness is the Army’s number one priority! While we’ve heard this in various speeches and seen this in many publications, one is often left to wonder what that means. General James C. McConville, the 36th Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, believes readiness encompasses much more than just the individual soldier’s ability to fi ght and deploy. Readiness is a careful balance of manning, equipping, training, and leader development to ensure the Army is able to fi ght and win in both current and future battles. While the Army’s readiness eff orts
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are multifaceted, McConville identifi es Army modernization and improved personnel management as two specifi c areas that are critical to meeting the Army’s goals.
The Army modernization strategy not only looks to bring new capabilities to the force, it aims to restructure how the Army provides these capabilities to the warfi ghter. Charged by the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army to lead the latest eff orts in modernization and acquisition reform, McConville is uniquely positioned to work with the Undersecretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, to see these eff orts through. The foundation of the Army’s
modernization strategy is the stand-up of cross-functional teams. These teams bring seasoned warfi ghters, science and technology experts, and acquisition professionals together to streamline the requirements development process. “We need to get new technology
into the hands of soldiers faster,” says McConville. “This is how we’re getting after it.”
The CFTs are organized along the lines of the Army’s modernization priorities, focusing development eff orts on long-range precision fi res, next-generation combat vehicles, future vertical lift, the network, air and missile defense, and soldier lethality. With a new direct line approach, CFTs are able to cut through the bureaucracy that characterizes the Army’s current resourcing model while quickly identifying requirements and empowering the science and technology community to employ creative solutions to maintain a competitive
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“The Army’s most important weapon is its people,” says McConville. “Where the other services may man equipment, what we do is equip the soldiers, the women and men who are the Army.”
advantage over potential adversaries. Where the introduction of CFTs
aims to maximize the quality and speed at which the Army brings equipment to soldiers, changes in personnel management simultaneously look to maximize the talent of people. Unlike other services, which base their formations on aircraft carriers, ships, and airplanes, the basic building block of the Army is the soldier. “The Army’s most important weapon is its people,” says McConville. “Where the other services may man equipment, what we do is equip the soldiers, the women and men who are the Army.” Most recently employed as the
Deputy Chief of Staff , G1, McConville spearheaded eff orts to reform the Army’s industrial-age personnel management system into a 21st century talent management system. As the Vice Chief of Staff , he continues to champion those eff orts. Rather than simply managing a soldier by their rank and military skills, the new talent management system seeks to defi ne them by multiple variables and to place them in positions that maximize their talents.
According to McConville, talent
management looks at the total soldier and ensures they are in the right place to be most eff ective for the Army. McConville says, “We have to look at the countries they have visited, the language skills they have, if they are airborne or air assault qualifi ed, how many combat deployments they have, how many fl ying hours they have and in which types of aircraft, and their certifi cations and hobbies. We will have a much better idea
of what talents a Soldier can contribute.” He adds, “As we look to change
how we are assigning our people, we can’t ignore that knowing what the soldier wants to do and where they want to go is signifi cantly important. Their vote should count. An engaged and interested offi cer, noncommissioned offi cer or soldier is crucial to mission success.” McConville believes that by
embracing the diversity of skills and experiences soldiers possess, the Army will benefi t both the soldier and the service.
This new model for talent
management is especially important as the Army looks to implement the six modernization priorities. The Army is looking to expand its ranks, and it wants leaders who, like McConville, have a background in the hard sciences. Engineers, particularly systems engineers who can help integrate capabilities, will be critical to ensuring the success of the Army’s modernization and readiness eff orts. “As we look at the demographics
moving forward, our country’s diversity is going to continue to grow. The demographics are changing as we go forward. And we’re going to need to refl ect those demographics, and we need to start right now.” The Army’s modernization campaign is an ambitious undertaking, but there is no one more uniquely postured to guide that campaign than General McConville. He believes in the eff ort, he believes in the Army, and he believes in the talent of the young men and women who will join the eff ort in the years to come. S
WINTER 2017 I USBE&IT 11
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