Q&A: Colonel Tom Hogan
Infrastructure Executive
Managing Limited Funds for Greatest Value for the Warfighter
Colonel Tom Hogan
Deputy Program Executive Officer
Enterprise Information Systems
Program Executive Office,
Enterprise Information Systems
Colonel Tom Hogan graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in weapon systems engineering. His subsequent civilian and military education includes a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University (1992), Command and General Staff College (1993), Advanced Program Management Course (1997), Industrial College of the Armed Forces (2001) and Executive Program Managers Course (2002).
Upon graduation from the Academy, Hogan was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Field Artillery. His first assignment was to the U.S. Field Artillery Training Center, where he served as an M109 firing platoon leader, battery executive officer, deputy commander and finally, the commander of the Headquarters and Service Battery. Following command, he attended the Field Artillery Officers Advanced Course and in 1986 was assigned to the 4-9th Field Artillery in Heilbronn, Germany. There he served in a Pershing II battery as a platoon leader, operations officer and executive officer. He spent his last nine months in Germany as the director of plans, mobilization and security for the Heilbronn community.
Hogan’s acquisition assignments include duty as the future requirements officer for the Military Acquisition Management Branch in the Total Army Personnel Command from 1989-1990. In 1993 he was assigned to Picatinny Arsenal, where he served in the Fire Support Armament Center as the assistant project manager for the Advanced Towed Cannon System. In 1995 he became the Army deputy program manager for the Joint Lightweight 155 Howitzer Program. From 1997 to 2000 he served as product manager, Crusader Armaments and Resupply. From 2001-2002 he served as chief, Acquisition Management Branch, Total Army Personnel Command. In 2002 he was selected as the Project Manager for Enterprise Infostructure. He assumed his current position as deputy program executive officer, enterprise information systems, in March 2005.
Hogan’s awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal, the Army Superior Unit Award and the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. Hogan was interviewed by MIT Editor Harrison Donnelly.
Q: As deputy program executive officer, enterprise information systems, you oversee a substantial portion of Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) programs. How would you define the common thread linking the varied programs under your command?
A: By its name, my title tells you that all my programs are tied directly to the Army’s IT infrastructure. But the real way that [Program Executive Officer, Enterprise Information Systems Kevin] Carroll has assigned his deputies is by customer. I have responsibility for all the G-6 programs, while Catherine Doolos has responsibility for the G-4 and the financial community and Lee Harvey has all the rest of the PEO customers.
There are five project mangers in the infrastructure business: Colonel Scot Miller with Defense Communications and Army Switched Systems [DCASS], Colonel Gale Harrington with Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems [DCATS], Hari Bezwada with Information Technology Systems [ITS], Colonel Steve Bristow with Enterprise Infostructure [EI] and Colonel Taylor Chasteen with Army Knowledge Online [AKO].
Q: The ITES-2S contracts, with a $20 billion ceiling, were recently awarded. What lessons did you learn from this process about how the Army buys IT services?
A: In the world of commercially available IT and the services that support those products, the trend over the last five to 10 years has been to streamline the entire process from procurement through fielding. The Army has done an excellent job of doing that without loss of capability or function. In fact, I believe that functionality has increased over this same period. We recognize that there are leading-edge IT firms that know the Army’s current business environment and that have the good foresight to recognize where the Army is going with its architectural support of LandWarNet. These are the type of firms that the Army needs on contract. ITES-2S is important to us because it uses high-quality companies that will provide best value to the customer and ensure that their implementations are done in accordance with DoD and Army policies and IT specifications.
Q: How would you assess the current status of the Army Knowledge Online portal? Have issues involving the contract been resolved?
A: Overall, the AKO portal is in great shape. We have more than 1.8 million accounts and there are well over 700,000 unique logins each week. As you know, last fall the contract was formally protested, and the Government Accountability Office made a ruling that the government properly conducted the source selection in accordance with the solicitation, and thus the protest was dismissed. From a contractual standpoint, we’re transitioning from the incumbent to a new contractor. There’s plenty of work on that front to keep the current system operational and continuing to evolve, while getting the new portal up and running under Lockheed Martin.
At the same time, we are establishing the AKO Forward presence in Southwest Asia to improve the responsiveness of the system for the warfighters deployed in the global war on terrorism. This is a critical effort for our most important customer, the warfighter, and it will be in place this summer. From a Joint perspective, the Defense Knowledge Online effort is led by Lieutenant General Steven Boutelle and Lieutenant General Charles E. Croom Jr., director of the Defense Information Systems Agency [DISA], and we’re working to turn AKO into “the portal” for all of DoD.
Our first efforts are on transitioning DISA’s current portal onto AKO. When that occurs, it will effectively become Defense Knowledge Online. We have lots of work to do in the policy, funding, contractual and engineering world to get to Generals Boutelle and Croom’s vision of one DoD portal, and will be putting a lot of our time and energy into making this happen. Finally, like most organizations involved in the IT business, we are moving forward on CAC Cryptographic Logon [CCL] for the portal, and will have this in place this summer in accordance with the DoD mandate.
Q: What are the key issues facing the Army in terms of enterprise infrastructure?
A: The key issue right now is money. We’re fighting a war, and obviously, we have to support that first and foremost. Infrastructure is typically the most expensive of our IT efforts, and so we have to manage our limited funds efficiently so we get the greatest value for our customers.
Q: PM DCATS and other offices in your organization have been active in Iraq and Afghanistan. What do you see as their chief accomplishments?
A: On a daily basis, the PEO has more than 500 people on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. They support four or five main areas in the PEO, but I oversee the majority of the folks over there. In my area, the three main efforts include PM DCASS and DCATS, which are building out the infrastructure in both Afghanistan and Iraq to establish a robust network in both countries. The second is PM Joint-Automatic Identification Technology [J-AIT], which runs the In-Transit Visibility infrastructure. And finally the Biometrics PM has a large presence running the Biometric Identification System for Access. Each of these PMs has several success stories in Iraq and Afghanistan; but the bottom line is they are providing our nation’s warriors the IT capability they need to help them complete their mission.
Q: What lessons have you learned in Southwest Asia about operating communications and transmission systems under combat conditions?
A: The operating piece is not significantly different. But the building piece, in a combat zone, is very different. First, there are the obvious physical security precautions we take to safeguard our soldiers, civilians and contractors working for us. Secondly, because a lot of our work is done by contractors, the hourly rates are much higher because they have significant insurance bills that they have to pay for their employees. Finally, there are unique conditions in a combat zone that require innovative solutions to get the job done.
It’s hard to explain all the different things that come up, but one of my favorite examples concerns building microwave towers as part of the infrastructure. We were having trouble getting the concrete trucks through the security gates in a timely manner, because in the high summer temperatures the concrete was setting up in the truck while it was waiting to get through security. The PM’s solution was to build a concrete plant inside the facility, so only the dry materials would have to come through security. This is only one of many stories where the PEO folks on the ground found an imaginative way to deliver the required capability to the warfighter.
Q: What is your vision for the Army Small Computer Program (ASCP), and what role do you see for bulk buying of IT commodities?
A: I want ASCP to operate like a commercial company. I want them to provide great products and service that our customers want to use. I want people to go to ASCP not because it’s mandated by the G6, but because they provide great service and value. I believe they’ve done a good job achieving those goals.
From my perspective, the commodity buys have been extremely successful, saving over $13 million in our first effort last fall. What we’ve done on our commodity buys that is a little different from the other services is that we still give the customer the flexibility to select specific products that work within their environment. This process allows us to focus on best-value buying while still ensuring the Army gets large volume discounts commensurate with our buying power.
Q: Are you satisfied with the pace of implementation of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) in the military?
A: There are two main types of radio frequency identification, the active and the passive. On the passive side, the report card is still out. PM J-AIT has established contractual vehicles that allow for use of passive RFID technologies, but there have only been limited implementations thus far. On the active side, we’ve been tremendously successful. No longer (as was true during the Gulf War) do we have to open a military shipping container to find out what is in it. Using active RFID tags, we now know what’s in each container and we know where that container is. This has greatly reduced inefficiency in the supply side of logistics. The infrastructure has been successfully installed throughout the world, including more than 130 sites in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Q: What changes are underway in the Defense Messaging System-Army (DMS-A)?
A: DMS-A recently received full material release, which means that it is recognized as fully compliant with its operational requirements document and type-classified standard for issuance across the field. There are two components: the strategic component, which is the infrastructure to run the messaging system for posts, camps and stations, and the tactical component, known as the Tactical Message System. Both of those are fully fielded to the Army. The main change underway is in the strategic component. The current strategic design is a client/server architecture, which works great, but is costly to maintain. The PM is helping several customers replace their client/server architecture with a Web-based architecture, which is much less costly to maintain.
Q: What are some of the other initiatives being implemented by your office?
A: One that comes immediately to mind is the Connect the Logistician program, which is providing VSAT terminals to the logistics community, and more recently the personnel community. It gives them Internet connectivity on the battlefield, and for the first time they are able to move large amounts of data efficiently, instead of by the “sneaker net” mode of the past, where you’d cut a CD and drive it to headquarters. Obviously that’s not efficient, nor safe in today’s combat environment. Also, our efforts installing the IT infrastructure as part of the Pentagon renovation effort are notable. PM ITS has completed the build-out of two full wedges, is in the middle of completing a third and has built a state-of-the-art National Military Command Center. The PM ITS team has completed all this work on cost and ahead of schedule.
Q: What is your role as deputy program executive officer for enterprise information systems?
A: I have five outstanding PMs, who are all capable and focused on delivering in accordance with their cost, schedule and performance requirements. I, of course, have an oversight and leadership role; but my main job is to establish conditions for my PMs to be successful. I also serve as the senior adviser to Mr. Carroll on military matters, from personnel and training issues to the officer and enlisted rating process.
Q: What do you see as the chief accomplishments of your office under your command so far?
A: Honestly, there are too many accomplishments to mention them all. But certainly our greatest accomplishments are in respect to our direct support to the war that I spoke about previously. Also, in the last year, we’ve taken on AKO as a new program to the PEO. It was an existing program that was providing a valuable capability to the warfighter. I believe we took it over with the least amount of chaos, and did a good job taking care of the workforce during the transition, while continuing to meet mission requirements. I’d like to think that the organization is more efficient now and is providing more disciplined acquisition and program management. The fact that we transitioned these organizations without interrupting services to users is what I am most proud of.
Q: What are your most important goals for the future?
A: Since I support the G-6, General Boutelle’s goals are my goals. Specifically, I am focused on delivering to the cost schedule and performance requirements set forth in his 500-day plan. Secondly, I want the infrastructure PMs to drive their costs down.
As I mentioned before, the money situation is tight. I know that building out an efficient infrastructure will result in savings in the long run, but in today’s funding environment we have to figure out how to build out that infrastructure at a lower cost. Finally, I believe Defense Knowledge Online has the potential to make significant impacts in DoD, and I will do everything in my power to make it successful. ♦
