New PEO sees opportunity to use, expand existing strengths

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Newly minted Program Executive Officer Ron Mason sees the PEO role as an opportunity to focus his efforts where his greatest strengths lie.

"Having program execution authority for a portfolio of programs lets me use my strongest skills where they're best suited," said the Senior Executive Service member and current director of the 653d Electronic Systems Wing. "It also allows me to expand my experience base. I've been a program manager and then a system program director; now I get to apply my experience as a PEO. It's the most natural extension of an acquisition program manager's career progression."

Mr. Mason recently assumed his new responsibilities and title as PEO for Cyber and Net-centric Systems. When the Electronic Systems Center transitions to its new structure July 1, he will also become director of the Cyber and Net-centric Directorate.

However, as currently envisioned, most of the organize-train-and-equip, or OTE, responsibilities associated with that job would be handled day to day by a deputy. As PEO, program execution will clearly be his primary responsibility, Mr. Mason said.

"The idea is to keep focused on acquisition," he said. "As a PEO, I'm being asked to stay on top of my programs and be accountable to the service acquisition executive for the health of my portfolio, so that's where my main focus has to be."

Creating a larger number of PEOs - ESC will have six where it formerly had only one - reduces the span of control for each. The Air Force intent is to allow each one to maintain more detailed awareness of their programs.

"It had to be incredibly difficult for one PEO like Lt. Gen. (Ted) Bowlds to stay on top of more than 150 programs," Mr. Mason said. "It's just doesn't seem humanly possible to be intimately aware of all the details of so many programs. This new construct makes things much more manageable."

Dividing the programs among six PEOs will surely increase top-level scrutiny, but a balance must be struck, Mr. Mason said.

"I can have more integrated program reviews to gain the insight I need," he said. "At the same time, I don't want program managers to think I'm going to micromanage their programs."

To alleviate such concerns and others, Mr. Mason has been keeping his workforce informed about the ongoing and impending changes.

"It's a very confusing time for people," he said. "The wings, groups and squadrons are going away, but not for another couple of months. At the same time, new PEOs are coming aboard and some programs will be reporting to different PEOs while remaining part of the wing, for OTE purposes. So I want to do my best to help sort it all out for people and alleviate the concerns they may have."

He said that the changes should be "mostly transparent" for more than 95 percent of his current staff.

"That is, they may have some change in reporting channels, but they'll be doing the same job and working directly for the same person," he said. "For a handful of others, there will be some minor changes, but mostly at the senior levels."

That might be because they report one place for OTE and another for program execution. It might also show up if they manage multiple programs that don't all fall under the same PEO.

"That's what makes it so important that the PEOs agree on a set of core common processes," Mr. Mason said. "You don't want a program manager having to figure out how each PEO intends to operate."

Another key for the PEOs is maintaining the enterprise-wide focus previously ensured by General Bowlds as the lone PEO for the center's entire portfolio.

"We've all got to work together to make sure we don't lose sight of that and to make sure that all of these changes are seamless and transparent for our customers," he said.

The group of PEOs will undoubtedly have to work some kinks out as they go along and will have to keep thinking about all the ramifications of the new operating model. Personnel at the command level and within the Office of the Undersecretary of the Air Force for Acquisition will have to do the same, Mr. Mason said, to resolve matters such as how to conduct program reviews now and who will participate in joint service exchanges.

"We're all going to have keep working, communicating and adjusting as we go along, but I think we're on the right track in terms of putting in place the enhanced acquisition focus the Air Force is looking for," Mr. Mason said.