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REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – Army Materiel Command is an active and proud participant in the Intelligence Community Joint Duty Program, which aims to promote an environment of information sharing, interagency cooperation and intelligence integration at all levels.
As a testament to its commitment to the program, AMC has hosted a financial manager from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Jennie Loncon joined the Army Materiel Command team in July 2020 as a cloud project officer through the IC Joint Duty Program and is about to enter her third and final year of the assignment.
“The cloud migration project was something more or less that I took on,” said Jennie Loncon, cloud project officer. “I knew from the interview process that I would be helping with budget, but my assignment has evolved since I’ve gotten here, which has been awesome.”
In 2017, the federal government was mandated to move all IT systems to cloud-based software. Loncon has been assisting AMC subordinate units like depots and installations migrate their IT systems and has helped develop a new request service system for IT issues. This project not only expanded her knowledge of information technology, but also afforded Loncon the opportunity to take on a role in a pivotal mission.
Loncon took the joint duty assignment to learn something new and grow as a federal employee. Participation in the program is also mandatory for government employees in the intelligence community to rise to the Senior Executive Service level of employment. Through this rare opportunity, she took on a role outside of her field at ODNI, finance.
Katherine Coviello, AMC special advisor for materiel enterprise intelligence and security, has been an advocate of joint duty assignments during her time at AMC. She believes that the program helps intelligence agencies better integrate and collaborate, since participants have experience at more than one agency. Loncon is one of many participants in the program that Coviello has brought into the AMC enterprise to learn more about the Army’s contributions to the intelligence community.
“I liken this program as to leaving your village and crossing the river,” Coviello said. “You get to learn new nuances to the intelligence community, AMC can incorporate best practices from your previous experiences and we will both be enriched.”
Loncon was encouraged to build her work profile during her assignment with AMC by completing every level of Army Civilian Education System training. She recently completed the Advanced Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where she took classes alongside other Army Civilians to learn the principles of strategic leadership and how to be an effective Army Civilian.
“I learned how to write reports and email in Army style, and what sorts of values are most important to the service while I was there,” Loncon said. “But I also learned how important civilians are to accomplishing the mission. As civilians, we have a lot of leverage to help us meet requirements to assist in the mission.”
Coviello recommended that Loncon take CES courses to cultivate her experience and help her integrate Army values into her personal and professional career. She also believes the training, which teaches students how to solve complex problems and develop strategic leadership skills, differentiates candidates for federal civilian positions.
While this was a rewarding opportunity for Loncon, she also brought her breadth of experience to the table to expand the knowledge of her classmates. The Army Management Staff College aims to foster a learning environment where students can share their experiences with each other and knowledge can be created alongside lasting bonds between federal professionals.
“We have a diverse student body that improves the learning experience for every attendee of the course, which is where Jennie comes in,” said Jerome Hawkins, Director of CES Department of Enterprise Leadership at the Army Management Staff College. “Diversity of students is critically important to development. The more we can bring in students from outside the Army, the better it is for our classroom, because learning is no longer completely Army-centric.”
Though she completed the courses virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, Loncon still had the opportunity to network with her fellow students and learn from their unique experiences as federal civilians in different fields of expertise.
Between completing the CES advanced course and taking on new responsibilities as the cloud project officer, Loncon credits her joint duty assignment for preparing her to one day work in a leadership role.
“I’m getting a bit more responsibility than ever before because there’s so many different working elements at AMC at any given time,” Loncon said. “I would like to take on and guide a small team one day. The CES curriculum helped put all of my training in perspective for when I get to that level.”
Loncon recommends that her colleagues from the intelligence community consider a joint duty assignment with the Department of Defense. This broadening opportunity allowed her to hone different skill sets and grow as a leader.
“The DOD values their employees and I’ve enjoyed being recognized for my contributions to AMC,” Loncon said. “Throughout this experience, I’ve gotten to see how much leadership values their employees and encourages them to achieve something bigger than themselves.”
| Date Taken: | 04.20.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2022 15:09 |
| Story ID: | 418892 |
| Location: | ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, AMC lauds joint duty training for civilians in intelligence community, by Lindsay Grant, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
