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Army readies its three components for new, cutting-edge HR system
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians tuned into Microsoft Teams on Monday, Aug. 10, to hear Army leaders discuss PEO EIS's Integrated Personnel Pay System-Army (IPPS-A), a new, cutting-edge online human resources (HR) system that is modernizing the force. In March 2020, the Army finished fielding release two (R2) of the system to the entire National Guard. This briefing prepared all three components for the immediate tasks necessary to support release three (R3), which will begin fielding in 2021.
The Army’s current HR information technology consists of over 200 disparate HR and pay systems, and over 650 interface and data exchanges between internal and external systems. This environment is labor-intensive and hampers total force visibility.
IPPS-A helps solve these issues and many more by integrating personnel, pay and talent management capabilities into a single system for all three Army components and over one million service members. The system will ultimately standardize business practices across the Army, improve transparency and access to Soldier records and personnel actions, and be fully auditable.
“We are moving out of the industrial age into the information age, as it pertains to human resources management, and it allows us to manage talent like we never have before in the United States Army,” said Army vice chief of staff, Gen. Joseph M. Martin.
IPPS-A R3 will introduce the Army’s active and reserve components to the system. R3 is now more than 90 percent built and on track to go live in December 2021. However, the effort will not stop there. Over the next decade, the Army plans to roll out more system capabilities.
“There is a good game plan to continuously upgrade this program’s capability for the warfighter and for commanders to continue to enhance their efficiencies in HR, talent management and pay,” said IPPS-A’s functional management division chief, Col. Gregory S. Johnson.
During the brief, Col. Johnson discussed how IPPS-A R2 had already proven successful and agile. He gave the mobilization efforts for COVID-19 in April as an example. The system was used by leaders to quickly assess their formations, as well as the status of their Soldiers and the missions they were supporting.
Col. Johnson highlighted a few of R2's unique features and upcoming ones in R3. He noted that Soldiers, HR professionals and commanders will have access to IPPS-A 24 hours a day and will be able to access it from either a government or commercial domain. He also discussed IPPS-A’s mobile capabilities, which are currently available to the National Guard as part of R2.
The mobile app gives users access to the system on the go and is loaded with self-service functions, including alerts and notifications on all HR actions. So far, the app has over 14,000 downloads and is on the "highest-rated" app list for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Army's reserve and active components will have access to the app in December 2021 when R3 goes live.
One area of particular interest for participants was the "25-point profile," a talent management feature that displays details about Soldiers’ knowledge, skills, behaviors, experience and readiness. The feature will provide a more holistic talent profile for each Soldier and will help the Army make better informed talent decisions.
“You will be able to understand your Soldier’s talents in a way you can’t do in our current systems,” Col. Johnson said.
As the R3 go-live approaches, knowing how to use the system and its additional capabilities is imperative. IPPS-A’s project manager, Col. Robert M. Williams, addressed the training strategy the program has implemented for HR professionals, Soldiers and commanders.
Virtual training for IPPS-A R3 will begin in May 2021 and continue through November of that year. Col. Williams said the program has implemented a train-the-trainer approach. Starting next summer, representatives from the program will visit 32 different locations and train over 1,700 HR professionals who, in turn, will train an additional 46,000 HR professionals.
Beginning next June, the program will require commanders to complete a one-hour online training course and will provide an optional one-hour training course for Soldiers.
In addition to these training sessions, the program has formed HR transformation working groups to outline changing organizational roles, responsibilities and business processes in R3. The program will create training materials and plans to organize summits at the beginning of 2021 to explain how these changes will work.
As the Army prepares for IPPS-A R3, both Col. Johnson and Col. Williams emphasized the importance of data correctness. To ensure seamless records transition to IPPS-A, Soldiers and units need to begin updating and correcting their personal and personnel records. Incorrect records could result in late pay or even delayed promotions.
“Bad data at the speed of light will still be bad data,” Col. Williams said.
FRAGO 5, which was released on July 14, 2020, and is available on milSuite, contains detailed guidance on what Soldiers, units and HR professionals from each component need to do to update their data.
At the close of the brief, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel, Lt. Gen. Gary M. Brito, reiterated the importance of data correctness. He said the program would need the help of Soldiers and their units to truly ensure IPPS-A’s success.
U.S. Navy Christens Newest Unmanned Surface Vessel, Vanguard
It all begins with an idea.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy christened Vanguard, the newest Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) during a recent ceremony in Mobile, Alabama.
Vanguard is the Navy’s first USV purpose-built from the keel up for unmanned operations and is part of the Pentagon-sponsored Overlord program.
“Vanguard represents a significant leap forward in unmanned technology,” said Rear Adm. Kevin Smith, Program Executive Officer, Unmanned and Small Combatants. “The addition of Vanguard will enable the expansion of unmanned testing, experimentation and development, accelerating the transition to the hybrid fleet.”
The Overlord program has played a pivotal role in accelerating and advancing the use of unmanned technology across the Navy. The Pentagon-funded effort launched the Navy’s experimentation with USVs and the resulting prototypes now fulfill a vital role in preparing the fleet to adopt USVs in operations. The knowledge and experience gained from the program is driving the development and requirements for the Navy’s future Large USV (LUSV) program. LUSVs are intended to be low cost, high endurance, modular USVs that can employ a variety of payloads. The USV prototypes are integral to the Navy’s mission of expanding unmanned operations and growing a manned-unmanned hybrid fleet.
“Vanguard’s name could not be more fitting. The state-of-the-art technology she will employ is revolutionary and will be at the forefront of establishing new standards for our fleet,” said Capt. Scot Searles, Unmanned Maritime Systems program manager. “We are thrilled to achieve this important milestone and are looking forward to Vanguard leading the way as she enhances our nation’s naval power and strategic capabilities.”
Austal USA and L3Harris jointly led the development and construction of Vanguard. Once outfitting and testing is complete, Vanguard will transit to San Diego and join sister ships Mariner and Ranger as part of the Navy’s Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One (USVDIVONE), responsible for the tactical development of USV concepts of operations and training.
PEO USC designs, develops, builds, maintains and modernizes the Navy’s unmanned maritime systems; mine warfare systems; special warfare systems; expeditionary warfare systems; and small surface combatants.
U.S. Navy Achieves Significant Engine Testing Milestones for Large Unmanned Surface Vessel Program
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) program reached pivotal milestones earlier this year after several industry teams successfully completed extended reliability demonstrations of four different engine configurations, officials announced today.
The four 720-hour tests demonstrated the capability and durability of different engine plants to operate for extended periods without human intervention – a critical enabler for advancing unmanned maritime operations and the Navy’s manned-unmanned Hybrid Fleet concept.
Mandated by a congressional requirement in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the engine testing milestones must be completed before the LUSV can proceed into a formal development phase. An engine system only qualifies for use in the program after successful demonstration events.
Demonstrations of each engine configuration took place over 720 continuous hours. No human intervention or preventative/corrective maintenance on the equipment was permitted during this time. Successfully completing the demonstration meant that an engine system could not exhibit any failures or issues that would require maintenance of any kind during operations on an unmanned ship for 30 days.
Four teams have successfully completed their separate 720-hour testing milestones. The successful teams include:
· Bollinger and Carter Machinery on behalf of Caterpillar in Chesapeake, Virginia was the first team to achieve this milestone in December of 2023. They demonstrated sufficient mechanical reliability of the 1550 kw Caterpillar 3512C model engine.
· Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) and Carter Machinery on behalf of Caterpillar in Chesapeake, VA demonstrated mechanical durability of the Caterpillar 2300 kW rated 3516 main propulsion diesel, lube oil and fuel system.
· Gibbs & Cox and Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas on behalf of Cummins also validated the reliability of the QSK95 diesel engine paired with an ABB AMG 0560M04 LAE generator.
· Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (HII), in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, conducted a successful 720-hour demonstration on behalf of MTU of the MTU 20V 4000 M93L, a Main Propulsion Diesel Engine configuration.
Each of these respective engine configurations are all now eligible for use on the LUSV program.
“These successful test events mark a significant milestone for our team and brings us one step closer to delivering the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel to the Navy,” said Capt. Scot Searles, program manager of the Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406) program office. “The completion of these rigorous engine tests is a testament to the hard work and collective expertise of both our Navy team and our industry partners. We are pleased with the results and look forward to continuing our work with industry to forge the future Hybrid Fleet.”
LUSVs will supplement the Fleet’s missile magazine capacity as part of the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) concept. Currently, the LUSV is envisioned as a vessel greater than 200 ft. in length with a full load displacement of approximately 1,500 tons. LUSVs are intended to be low cost, high endurance, modular USVs that can employ a variety of payloads.
The Navy in 2020 awarded six LUSV conceptual design contracts to industry teams to refine program requirements and to provide informed feedback on the Navy’s LUSV requirements. As part of these contracts, each of these teams have been pursuing propulsion plant efforts, culminating in these engine test demonstrations.
PEO Unmanned and Small Combatants leads the Navy’s efforts to develop, deliver and sustain capable and affordable unmanned maritime systems to meet Fleet requirements.