[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Following three years as the leader for the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors’ (PEO IEW&S) largest program management, it was time for a hand-off.
During a Change of Charter ceremony July 1 at Fort Belvoir, VA, hosted by Brig. Gen. Thomas Cole, program executive officer for IEW&S, Col. Glen Lambkin, project manager for Night Vision/ Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (NV/RSTA) relinquished command to Col. Linda Herbert.
During his time as PM for NV/RSTA Lambkin led an extremely diverse organization with four separate product mangers under him, constituting more than 60 projects and a budget of $2 billion for fiscal year 2008. Having such a broad and diversified organization was never a concern for him. “It was easy because I had a great team,” said Lambkin. “I have great folks working to field, support and sustain systems that are in theater.”
One of the most serious challenges Lambkin faces is getting assets to the warfighter fast enough. “They want things yesterday and I understand that, so speed is one of the biggest challenges,” he notes.
Understanding the needs of the war fighter is a reason he joined the acquisition business. “I was frustrated because I couldn’t get the new equipment that I knew existed,” said Lambkin. “As a signal company commander, I knew there was new gear out there that I needed to perform my mission, but I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting it. That was one of the primary reasons why I wanted to join the acquisition corps and try to make a difference.”
One significant change Lambkin made during his tenure as PM for NV/RSTA involved a change in the way the organization conducted business. “We moved from every product providing their own OEM FSRs (Original Equipment Manufacturer Field Support Representative) to buying our support primarily from CECOM (Communications and Electronics Command) which is much more efficient and effective,” he added. Prior to the change, every single product on the PMs extensive list had a separate FSR, now experts are trained to service several products.
When asked to comment on the significance the PM has played in the global War on Terror, Lambkin reflects back to a comment a soldier made about aerostats. The message received from theater is that they don’t need to send a soldier when they can send a blimp, allowing soldiers to be kept out of harms way because if an aerostat with a sensor can perform surveillance then you don’t have to send out a patrol.
As for the future of NV/RSTA, Lambkin believes it will continue to be a key enabler for a different way of fighting. “Today soldiers are fighting with videos, not messages and that is real-time actionable information which allows commanders to fight the way we do today,” said Lambkin. “We have just started and it is changing the way people fight in a good way. The persistent surveillance aspect of this ability allows us to have eyes on something for a long period of time, and that is a deterrent.”
The long list of successes NV/RTSA has accomplished during Lambkin’s command include: Rapidly fielding more than 1,000 Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensors onto ground vehicle platforms in both Iraq and Afghanistan meeting the need of a counter-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) initiative; and increasing the number of aerostat-based sensor systems by 200 percent, significantly boosting operational capabilities. Recently, the organization earned a DoD Value Engineering Award for its Reliability and Maintainability Improvement program for the AN/TPQ 37 Firefinder system.
Lambkin will make the short move across post to become the military deputy to the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS). “It has been truly an honor to serve with such a professional, dedicated and passionate team,” said Lambkin. “I would like everyone to know that I’m not going that far, I will still be a part of Team C4ISR and I look forward to working with the team in the next few years.”
Lambkin’s successor, Herbert, comes to NV/RSTA directly from graduating from the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]