Proponent Update
Mr. Roger S. Samuels
Mr. Samuels is the Chief of the Simulation Proponent Division and School.

There have been both organizational and personnel transitions here in the G-3/5/7 during the last twelve months. LTG Thurman became the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7 on 22 September 2007 replacing LTG Lovelace who has taken over as Commanding General U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC). MG Lennox became the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7 on 22 January 2008 replacing MG Higgins who has retired. Organizationally, our Directorate is now the Modeling and Simulation Directorate, vice Battle Command Directorate, as our organization was restructured with the creation of a new LandWarNet/Battle Command Directorate last fall.

Within the Simulation Proponent Division, which includes Functional Area 57 (FA 57), Civilian Program 36 (CP 36), and the Simulation and Modeling School, there have been personnel transitions as well. As many of you are aware, COL Jumper has transitioned to his new position in TRADOC Army Capabilities Integration Center Forward here in Arlington, VA and LTC Norman Spears has replaced him as Proponent Officer. LTC Craig Unrath has transitioned to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir and MAJ (P) Scott Znamenacek has replaced him as Assignments Officer. Ms. Donna Wood is the new Civilian Program Manager, Mr. Robert Smith is the new Writer-Editor and Ms. Rosemary Cuadros is the new Force Structure Manager.

Both CP 36 and FA 57 continue to grow and to meet new Army requirements. We have continued to implement CP 36 and have successfully documented hundreds of positions in the Career Program. Many have been actively pursuing training, development, and career opportunities through the Civilian Program. We have documented new FA 57 positions in the Army as Brigade Combat Team, Battle Command Officers. We have initiated the CP 36 Intern Program with three Interns coming on board this past fall. For our new interns and our CP 36 careerist, I seek your, and your organizations’ involvement in establishing new, short term intercommand developmental assignments to better understand, experience, and promote beneficial activities among our many M&S organizations. Please contact me with your thoughts on these assignments.

We have been successful in obtaining Army Competitive Professional Development money for our CP 36 careerists and have approved many requests for varied Modeling, Simulation, and Battle Command education and training funding this year. We have enhanced and brought on line many new lessons and a new course, the Battle Command Officer Integration Course (BCOIC). This two week course provides a deep understanding of Army Battle Command Systems and enables knowledge fusion across the organization. Training

CP 36 Intern graduates from the six week Simulation Operations Course

opportunities can be found in our Army Civilian Training, Education and Development System (ACTEDS) Plan. The ACTEDS provides systematic training and development of career Army civilians from intern to senior manager and executive levels. It shows core competencies, knowledge, skills, abilities and associated training and education. It also provides information and guidance on the career program, training plans, key positions, and mobility requirements. The ACTEDS Plan can be found on the Army G1 Web site Civilian Personnel On-line at cpol.army.mil. We are currently updating the ACTEDS Plan and will continue to work these changes with our Command Career Program Managers and other M&S subject matter experts.

We continue to be fully engaged in the Officer Personnel Management System (OPMS) Councils of Colonels, General Officer Steering Committee, and the civilian Army Executive Steering Group. As with the OPMS Task Force , we have been involved in Army efforts to develop Broad Civilian Career Groups that, when implemented, fully integrates into the Army culture a multifunctional Civilian Corps through centralized management of career group paths and associated education, training, leadership development, and assignments. It is envisioned that broad career groups, in conjunction with other major Army initiatives, will provide many more opportunities for developing the civilian workforce. In the M&S community, we have begun the process of enhanced planning and development of the M&S Workforce in our Career Group/Fields, among the vested proponents, and with Army organizations.

This past year, I was able to meet and speak with many of you at the December 2007 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) and the March 2008 DOD M&S Conference. It was great to see and hear from many people whom I have not seen in years. I also met many more new people from the community at the DOD M&S Conference. One of the great benefits of the DOD M&S Conference this year was that it provided for a much greater awareness and understanding of not only our respective services but of the entire Defense M&S community. I believe these past conferences did much to advance, coalesce, and promote our profession. We are scheduled to be at the 2008 I/ITSEC, December 1-4, and would like very much again to have the outstanding level of participation we had at I/ITSEC 2007. We look forward to seeing and hearing from you.