Photo By Greg Newswanger | Jen Adair, a senior strategic planner for U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development...... read more read more
What started as a college student just trying to get her foot in the door has led to almost 20 years as a Department of the Army Civilian, with nearly all of them at U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, or DEVCOM.
Jen Adair, then a student at Towson University in Maryland but now a senior strategic planner with DEVCOM, started as a summer intern at the U.S. Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity, or AMSAA, which later became known as DEVCOM Analysis Center, or DAC.
“I started as a summer hire while getting my computer science degree and I loved it,” Adair said. “After that, I worked during the winters and then later during the school year as well. I supported a Task Force Evaluation Model, which essentially ran different systems that would evaluate simulated battle damage. It was a lot of coding and running models, fixing broken code lines, things like that, but I learned how to verbally communicate data, output and analysis early on, which was a great experience for me.”
Adair developed a love for computer science while growing up thanks to her dad, who used to work at AMSAA as a civilian and helped guide her to a career at AMSAA.
“My dad was always into electronics, and he would have the newest television or stereo system or computer,” she said. “I learned how to load commands in disk operating system, or DOS, for Windows, and I knew that that was where I could excel and so I went for my computer science degree. With my dad working as a civilian at AMSAA I knew that he loved his job, and he knew that a computer science degree would fit well there, so I’m very grateful for him.”
After 11 years in modeling and simulation, Adair wanted to try something different, so she applied for a developmental assignment as a strategic planner with the Plans, Operations, and Project Management Office at AMSAA.
“We wrote the campaign plan and coordinated a lot of visits and overview briefings for and with our leadership, and previously I did not have a lot of experience in interacting at the leadership level,” Adair said. “I really loved it though. I was really inspired by the pace and the impact we could have on the entire DEVCOM enterprise.”
A campaign plan details the strategic objectives used to achieve a commander’s strategy.
Adair loved it so much, that she applied for a staff position once one opened at DEVCOM Headquarters.
“I just took a leap of faith, changing after 15 years at one organization” she said. “In a very technical organization like DAC, the emphasis is on the technical work, but when you’re in a staff position, it is more enabling the technical workforce, and most of everyone in headquarters are staff and in enabling functions. It was a complete career change but I’m so glad I did it.”
With five years at DEVCOM Headquarters now under her belt, it is safe for Adair to say that things have been going great.
“I love the culture here and I feel very empowered,” Adair said. “I feel like I’m making an impact, so although it was very nerve-racking to make the change, I think it was the right call for me based on where I want my career to go in the future. Also, our organization is around 51% female, which is an amazing number; I love seeing people that look like me sitting at the table and being successful.”
In those five short years, that successful person she saw sitting at the table, was herself.
“I’ve written three campaign plans since being at DEVCOM Headquarters, and more recently, I facilitated the entire discussion on different priority areas at a small group discussion between the DEVCOM command team, DEVCOM Centers and Lab directors, and a board of directors for an all-day event,” she said. “Knowing that I’m trusted to be at the table even though I’m not part of the leadership team is empowering.”
Though showing that success in the workplace is important to Adair, it’s equally as important to show that success at home.
“I really want to show my daughter that she can do it all,” she said. “I would love for her to go into a science, technology, engineering and math field, and as a female in maybe more male dominated workplaces, I would just love for her to have access to everything she wants, regardless of her gender.”
To Adair, doing it all goes beyond having a successful professional career and extends to having a fulfilling personal life.
“I think not having a good work-life balance can sometimes hold you back both personally and professionally,” Adair said. “The work-life balance at DEVCOM, with the telework policy, has really enabled me to be successful at home as well. I have three kids, so we have a lot of sporting events and school activities, doctor appointments, things like that. So, my work may not get done in the typical nine to five hours that people have come to expect, but the work will get done and it will get done well. I think having a policy like ours is the difference between having someone give it their all versus having a person that just comes to work.”
Being able to do it all is something Adair appreciates about DEVCOM and is something she tries to instill in her team as well.
“We all have lives outside of the Army, so enabling my team and empowering my team to be their best self here, but also understanding that there is a lot more to life than your job, is the most important thing to me,” she said. “Getting the best out of those around you and out of yourself is something I’m very passionate about.”
According to Adair, getting the best out of everyone is important because of the mission of DEVCOM, but getting the best out of herself is important because of personal reasons.
“The mission here is very important: whatever a Soldier wears, touches, shoots, eats … the breadth of work that we do here is essential,” Adair said. “I’m married to an Army Officer, so I’m all in wholeheartedly, and I love being a part of this. The work that I’ve found here is awesome, and it helps with the ‘love what you do’ part of my life, but at the end of the day, I just want the team to be successful.”
| Date Taken: | 10.28.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.28.2024 15:39 |
| Story ID: | 484083 |
| Location: | ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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