ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (July 31, 2014) -- A partnership between
the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Army Research,
Development and Engineering Command has led to the establishment of the
Officer Scientist and Engineer Program pilot.
The OSEP pilot places qualified and willing Army officers with a
science, technology, engineering or mathematics doctorate into Army
research and development centers or laboratories to team with civilian
scientists and engineers.
The Army Science Board conducted a study in 2012 that showed the
military presence in Army science and technology was notably low. The
study said the Army needs to recruit, retain and develop its top science
and engineering talent.
"West Point will send officers off at some point to get Ph.D.s in
[science, technology, engineering and math] degrees to come back and
teach in the school," RDECOM Director Dale Ormond said.
"I found out that some of these officers don't get picked up as
permanent professors, so they go back to their branches. I said, well,
we've made a huge investment in these guys and gals in terms of their
education and they have tremendous talent. Let's bring them into the
laboratories."
Ormond discussed his ideas for OSEP with the Army G1, and the pilot
program was approved within RDECOM for a period of three years.
"Once [the officers] get a Ph.D., and they come in to our labs to do
research, they bring their operational experience and expertise and then
help us shape where we're going with our [science and technology] work
to make sure it's getting at what Soldiers need when its appropriate,"
Ormond said. "Having those officers talk to our scientists and
engineers enables them to better understand the officers' experiences.
The officers ability to engage with these scientists and engineers and
understand their ideas is tremendous synergy. I think it's a tremendous
opportunity to help us to be more relevant and support the warfighter
more effectively."
Lt. Col. William Fischer was the first officer scientist in the program.
Fischer is a 24-year veteran Army officer with a bachelor's degree in
physics from the College of William and Mary, and a doctorate in
computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School. After his
four-year stint teaching computer sciences at West Point, he heard about
the pilot program and volunteered to participate. He now works with
RDECOM's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and
Engineering Center.
"My department head [at West Point], Col. [Eugene] Ressler, approached
me one day," Fischer said. "He'd heard about this initiative and asked
me if I'd be interested in doing it. [When] I found out more about it,
it sounded very exciting, it struck a chord with me."
He signed up the same day.
"The Army invested a lot in me, in my advanced degree," Fischer said.
"I think I can contribute more to the Army in an assignment where I can
continue to use that degree. It takes a long time to grow a field-grade
officer; it takes a long time to grow a Ph.D. I think OSEP is a great
initiative to look at the convergence of those two.
"[Organizations] like the Army labs have a lot of great civilians, but
there are very few military in-between," Fischer continued. "There's
nobody that's both a military officer and [who] has a technical degree,
who can get in the middle there and bring that synergy of being able to
speak warfighter and being able to speak scientist or engineer. I really
think it's a great initiative and hope to see it grow."
In addition to teaming up military and civilian scientists and
engineers, Ormond said the program also helps West Point cadets as they
work on their senior projects during their summer sessions at RDECOM.
"So now we're getting cadets involved with research, getting them
excited about math, science and engineering, which is important," Ormond
said. "I think as we continue to increase the complexity of the kit we
give to Soldiers, whether it's aircraft or tanks or trucks or the radar
systems and their command-and-control systems, they need to have a
better understanding of the principles by which this stuff works, so
they can be more effective as officers in leading the fight."
The OSEP pilot began in 2013 and will run until July 2016. RDECOM will
then compile the data and results of the pilot and will present the Army
leadership with a recommendation on the feasibility of extending the
program Army-wide.
http://www.army.mil/article/130704/Army_tests_Officer_Scientist_and_Engineer_Program/
By Dennis Neal, RDECOM
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