Marine Corps, Army Collaborate To Strengthen Programs
by Matt Gonzales, U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command March 5,
2021
Marine Corps Systems Command recently joined forces with the Army
to identify partnership opportunities that could benefit both
organizations.
In January 2021, MCSC’s Portfolio Manager, Logistics
Combat Element Systems and the Army’s Program Executive Officer,
Combat Support and Combat Service Support participated in a
Home-on-Home conference to discuss collaboration opportunities to
build synergy and identify cost savings and avoidance.
“The
Home-on-Home collaboration is a great integrated and teaming
relationship between the Marine Corps and the Army, with support
from leaderships,” said Linda Huizenga, assistant portfolio manager
for Program Management with PfM LCES. “It’s an opportunity for PfM
LCES and PEO CS&CSS to learn more about each other’s programs and
identify areas to support both the Marine Corps and Army.”
 From the left, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kevin Burke, and U.S. Army Spcs. Kimberly Williams and Jasmine Wright, Joint Corporals Leadership Development Course students, plot grid points during the land navigation portion of Camp Lemonnier's Joint Corporal’s Leadership Development Course at Arta, Djibouti, March 3, 2016. During the evaluation Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines had to find eight different points and navigate to those points in a timed event. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dan DeCook)
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This single-day, virtual event represents the culmination of various
program management offices assembling and sharing information to
develop a common understanding of programs to assess possible
collaboration opportunities.
The outcome of these
interactions are captured on a Home-on-Home scorecard that provides
the level of collaboration taking place on all acquisition programs,
and identifies the programs most in need of discussion with
leadership.
Opportunities For
Collaboration
In 2020, LCES Portfolio Manager Col.
John Gutierrez spoke with PEO CS&CSS Timothy Goddette about conducting a virtual Home-on-Home to benefit
both organizations. Gutierrez served two tours as a product manager
at PEO CS&CSS and had developed strong relationships with their
leadership team.
“Through our discussions, PfM LCES and
CS&CSS recognized the value of conducting a virtual Home-on-Home to
identify opportunities of synergy, cost savings and cost avoidance,”
said Gutierrez. “We also felt it was important to develop a
consistent Army and Marine Corps narrative for future congressional
communications.”
Gutierrez noted how PfM LCES and PEO CS&CSS
comprise similar programs that align with one another. As a result,
PfM LCES and PEO CS&CSS reviewed more than 100 projects for active,
planned or potential collaboration during the Home-on-Home
conference.
The Army and Marine Corps are already actively
collaborating on several programs, including the Rough Terrain
Container Handler Service Life Extension Program, a machine that
moves 20-to-40-foot ISO containers and shelters on rough terrain,
beaches and other surfaces to assist with land and amphibious
missions.
They’re also actively collaborating on the
Expeditionary Fire Suppression System Bottle Refill Station ... a fully
integrated, mobile fire suppression refill system that enables the
safe refilling of fire suppression bottles and systems ... among others.
The two groups identified nearly 50 areas of potential
collaboration, which included the continued sharing of new
technology to research for Small, Modular and Hybrid Power Systems,
as well as the sharing of test data for the M870 40 Ton Trailer
Off-Road Suspension Upgrade.
 U.S. Army Cpl. Gregory McLellan and U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Clinton Smith, Joint Corporals Leadership Development Course students, plot grid points during the land navigation portion of Camp Lemonnier's Joint Corporal’s Leadership Development Course at Arta, Djibouti, March 3, 2016. During the evaluation Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines had to find eight different points and navigate to those points in a timed event. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dan DeCook)
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MCSC could also potentially work
with the Army to discuss areas to collaborate on the development of
the Common Tactical Truck. The CTT is a new Army initiative to
replace the current Medium and Heavy Fleet with a single, modular
platform.
PEO CS&CSS and PfM LCES intend for Home-on-Home to
become a recurring event throughout the year, with a rejoin in June
2021 to further discuss the logistics of these plans.
From Potential To Reality
Home-on-Home fosters collaboration between the Marine Corps and Army
to ultimately save each service time and resources. These
collaborations also demonstrate the organizations’ commitment to
more efficiently use of tax-payer dollars.
Lou Anulare, an LCES civilian assigned as the Army’s
product officer for the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle, Leader-Follower
program at PEO CS&CSS, said the information gathered during
Home-on-Home helps both services understand not only active and
potential opportunities for collaboration, but also why programs may
choose not to collaborate.
“This event provides a complete
set of information for both Marine Corps and Army leadership to
address questions with a common and complete message,” said Anulare.
He believes Home-on-Home is an important event because it helps
both services better understand partnership opportunities that
otherwise may be overlooked when the drive to meet schedule
overshadows potential efficiencies to be gained.
“The
benefits of these collaborations, of this event, are numerous,” said
Anulare.
Home-on-Home also exemplifies a commitment from
Marine Corps and Army leadership to provide time for program
managers to identify the opportunities and assistance needed to move
certain programs from potential to reality.
“As a senior
acquisition leader, I can affirm that we are committed to working
with our sister services, stakeholders and industry,” said
Gutierrez. “We will do everything we can to accelerate innovation
and deliver operationally relevant solutions to enable lethality to
the Fleet Marine Force.”
Marc Paquette, MCSC’s deputy
portfolio manager for LCES, said the portfolio is excited for
continued collaboration efforts between the two organizations and
believes this partnership will benefit both services for years to
come.
“In these times of increasing budget constraints and
the importance of reducing our joint footprint, the collaboration
between the teams led by Mr. Goddette, the U.S. Army’s PEO CS CSS,
and Col. Gutierrez, will positively impact the Army and the Marine
Corps for many decades,” said Paquette.
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