Sarah Mullins has seen acquisition from a lot of different perspectives: During more than 11 years on active duty, she spent nearly eight years in the Signal Corps and then four years in the Acquisition Corps. She left active duty as a captain and returned to acquisition as an Army civilian. She now serves as deputy product officer for the Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program’s Product Office for Command Centers, within the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS). Her husband, Maj. Jason Mullins, is also part of the acquisition workforce, and began his acquisition career as assistant product manager for Nett Warrior at PEO Soldier.
From those experiences, she has learned two things. First, it’s important to remain open to change, to rapidly adapt to new information and conditions. Second, Soldiers and civilians could stand to learn a little bit more about each other. “Soldiers don’t understand why it takes so long to get what they need. They don’t realize that everything they see is the product of the acquisition process, and they’re not familiar with the checks and balances of the system,” said Mullins.
Among the biggest projects in Mullins’ career is a tech refresh for the Strategic Command Center at the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) headquarters in Miami, which was completed in August 2018. She managed the design, engineering, installation, test and delivery of an information infrastructure system tailored specifically for SOUTHCOM. The new system provides IT solutions to support DOD’s Global Command and Control System – Joint, which provides the communications, computing and data infrastructure that integrates and presents combat support information to the warfighter on a single computer using the Common Operational Picture – Combat Support Environment. “We were able to see combatant commanders use the system in an exercise with deployed forces—that kind of firsthand experience is invaluable for our team,” she said.
This article is published in the April-June 2019 issue of Army AL&T magazine.
“Faces of the Force” is an online series highlighting members of the Army Acquisition Workforce through the power of individual stories. Profiles are produced by the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center Communication and Support Branch, working closely with public affairs officers to feature Soldiers and civilians serving in various AL&T disciplines. For more information, or to nominate someone, please contact 703-664-5635.
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