Continued development in the areas of personal protection for the DoD could be sacrificed if the opinion in the article “The defense industry’s new favorite buzzword” By Philip Ewing at  DoDBuzz.com are right. Mr. Ewing highlights the Pentagon’s love and fascination with big ticket technology at the expense of small business.  The article references the textiles industry specifically as “If the Army stops buying socks, it can probably start buying them again in big quantities without too much inconvenience.” While I am unsure of the source of this quote, I think it is reflective of beltway thinking (both government and industry) that textile based products are both low tech and easy to turn on and off – both statements are incorrect.

I guess the same logic applies to Flame Resistant (FR) uniforms, protective gloves, soft body armor, helmets and boots which fall into the textiles category would be seen as low technology and not an important enough part of the industrial base to maintain.

Find the complete article at http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/01/05/the-defense-industrys-new-favorite-buzzword/#ixzz1jEzUXSEw

Did you know that even though DoD contracts contain a clause that prohibits manufactures from employing prison labor (such as China) that Federal law requires the DoD to procure certain clothing and textile (C&T) items such as helmets, some layers of ECWCS and uniforms from Federal Prison industries (FPI).

Should Federal Prison Industries continue as a mandatory source for Army Combat Helmets (ACH), Extreme Cold Weather Clothing Systems (ECWCS) and Army Combat Uniforms (ACU)? Why should 6,505 federal convicts be fully employed in regional areas of 10% or more unemployment?

In almost all cases,congressional staffers are amazed to learn that much of our military gear is made by federal prisoners. In fact, according to the FPI Annual Report from 2009, prisoners achieved $262.7M in sales in the Clothing and Textiles category earning $36M in profits ($60M in 2008). The question on everyone’s mind is that given prisoners are only paid pennies per hour, who is reaping the benefits of these $36M in earnings?

The question from the tax payer’s mind is simple – wouldn’t it be better for the $262.7M in sales to be pushed into the free enterprise market and potentially re-employ the 6,505 tax paying, sewing and manufacturing people who may be unemployed today?

The other question is a matter of quality assurance in the personal protective products made by UNICOR. In the past, FPI products have not meet NIJ standards given the recall of 44,000 Army Combat Helmets in 2010. The most recent award for ECWCS requires a very complicated manufacturing process called “seam sealing” which requires precise pressure, heat and timing to ensure that all seams and zipper opening are water tight. 100% of the garments are tested for quality assurance. FPI is not the best manufacturing source for this type of complicated manufacturing and the Army is at risk of receiving poor performing garments.

The stated purpose of the FPI program, again from the FPI web site is “. . . not about business, but instead, about inmate release preparation…. helping offenders acquire the skills necessary to successfully make that transition from prison to law-abiding, contributing members of society.” I wonder how the clothing and textile $96M profit over the last two years really helped prisoners acquire job skills.

The Industrial Base and overall employment of textile, apparel, and furnishings workers is expected to lose 71,500 jobs. Specific rehabilitation by the FPI program in the C&T industry is for sewing machine operators which is expected to decline rapidly by 34 percent (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos233.htm#outlook). Question – why is the government taking potential jobs from workers who could be employed today, to train and rehabilitate prisoners in a declining job field with little hope for a job when released from prison?

The point now is to control FPI’s appetite for growth in clothing and textiles and push that production back into the private industrial base to increase job growth.

It is a wrong step for DoD procurement to award an additional $15M for clothing products that were previously made by taxpaying citizens.

Why doesn’t Congress push the 6,505 prisoner jobs into private industry to provide more employment opportunity? Further, why does the Federal government prohibit contractors from using prison labor when the US government mandates that percentages of all Federal contracts be set aside for US prison labor? And last, what is the message that we are sending to both our troops and to our allies when the soldier, sailors, marines, and airman who deploy to defend our values of freedom and democracy are wearing uniforms made by US federal prisoners?

Noticeably absent this year was the annual Secretary of the Army Award for Excellence in Contracting (Barbara C. Heald Award) which was established in 2006. It wasn’t so long ago that Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, Hon Claude Bolton opened the ceremony back on October 6, 2006 by saying “One thing that I would like you to always remember is that we–each and every one of us–work for the soldier” – “Every day, America’s warfighters stand ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. They face threats that change–quite literally–overnight, and their success in meeting these challenges rests on our shoulders.” 

The Barbara C. Heald Award pays tribute to Barbara, who as a contracting official who was killed on Saturday evening, January 29, 2005 during her third tour of duty by a rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. I was standing near Barbara as were dozens of other acquisition professionals, many who were severely wounded. Acquisition professional were busily engaged in preparing for the Iraq Elections when the rocket came into the palace building in the Green Zone. The death of my fellow contracting officer and well as fellow officer, Lieutenant Commander Keith Taylor and the wounding of my friend LTC Luis Cotto-Arroyo, brings into clear focus the risk that all acquisition professions undertake during the performance of their duties in a combat zone. This award should remain as part of this annual event so that sacrifices by contracting officials are honored alongside similar accomplishments by US Army Acquisition Corps colleagues and ensure that the role of contracting officials who serve forward with deployed troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan is celebrated and shared with the entire acquisition community.

Congratulations to the following Acquisition award winners!

Army Life Cycle Logistician of the Year Award - Mr. Jeffrey Forgach, PEO Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical

ASA(ALT) Contracting Noncommissioned Officer Award for Contracting Excellence - MSG Sandra William, 409th Contracting Support Brigade

Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Continuous Process Improvement Award – Special Tools Accountability lean Six Sigma Project team, PEO Combat Support and Combat Service Support and PM Joint Combat Support Systems

Department of the Army Research and Development Laboratory of the Year Awards:

Laboratory of the Year - U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command

Management Award – U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Director, Acquisition Career Management Award

Constance Tucker, PEO Ground Combat Systems, PM Stryker Brigade Combat Team

Secretary of the Army Acquisition Director, project Manager, and Product Manager of the Year Awards:

Acquisition Director of the Year at the Lieutenant Colonel Level – LTC Carol Tschida, U.S. Army Contracting Command, 900^th Contingency Contracting Battalion

Product Manager of the Year – LTC Courtney Cote, PEO Aviation, PM Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter

Acquisition Director of the Year at the Colonel Level – COL Jeff Gabbert, Defense Contract Management Agency, Operations Directorate

Project Manager of the Year – COL Linda Herbert, PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors, PM Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition

Army Acquisition Achievement Award

Individual Sustained Achievement Award – Dorothy Bell, Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Operational contracting Division

Equipping and Sustaining Our Soldier’s Systems Award – M855A1 Team, PEO Ammunition

Information Enabled Army Award – Secure Go Mobile, PEO Enterprise Information Systems

Transforming the Way We Do Business Award – PM Soldier Sensors and Lasers, Logistics Management Directorate, PEO Soldier

Event photos will be available online at: http://live.usaasc.info/aac-awards-ceremony-2011/photos

The Propper ACP based on the Crye design is a specialized garment which incorporates feedback from field trials and tests conducted in Afghanistan. The ACP, while resembling the appearance of the current Fire Resistant Army Combat Uniform (FRACU), includes unique features, capabilities and characteristics necessary for improved performance on the modern battlefield.  The ACP offered by Propper is available both in the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP).

Propper International features the new USMC Pack System which is part of the overall family of improved load bearing equipment “FILBE” at Booth No. 1234, please plan to visit and see the new pack! Contact Jonathan Long, PM Military Systems, at 314-477-4149 and jonathanl@propper.com for more information.

Modern Day Marine  September 27 – 29, 2011  Quantico, Va.

Back to the review – let’s assume a company has establishing a successful on-line presence and has managed to do a good job at the first element – attract. The company has now attracted people to their website – now what? The next step in social media marketing is to convert those people from strangers to consumers (in this case consumers of information meaning content). Ms. Kabani clarifies that a consumer of on-line media content is not necessarily a paying customer (initially at least). The goal in the element convert is to convince those people to become consumers of your media content (examples provided in this book are to convince a stranger to become a Face Book friend or a Twitter follower and thereby a consumer). However, the reader is reminded of the marketing motto that a person needs to come into contact with your brand seven times before making the decision to purchase. I can’t vouch for the scientific nature of the number seven but I think it’s safe to say that a potential consumer needs more than one contact before they make the purchase decision.

Ms. Kabani introduces her formula for converting a consumer into a client: Client = Valuable Content + Time. Her key point it that social media is “great” at turning strangers into consumers and consumers of content into customers. The key for on-line marketing is to keep content fresh and informative so that consumers return time and time again to gain updated information they want which is only provided on your site.

Once you have attracted an interested person to your site and converted them from a consumer into a client most businesses might think that the sales cycle is complete. Not so says Ms. Kabani. In fact she indicates that the last element of social media marketing – transform, may be one of the most critical. She introduces the concept called “social proof” as the theory that people are more likely to do something when they see others doing it first. Social media, according to the author, is built on social proof and it’s a strong concept which recalls another old saying “nothing breeds success like success.” Social proof is built on two elements (1) a company has to do a good job; and (2) a company has to use that success to attract more success. Accordingly, social media platforms are a great way to showcase past and present success stories. A whole chapter is dedicated to the three most useful social platforms: Face Book, LinkedIn and Twitter. While I won’t delve into the recommendations on how to best employ these platforms to reinforce a company’s brand, I think the key point is that content posted to these sites must be both useful (informative, educational, insightful) and re-freshed on a routine basis. If an interested person visits a site once – there has to be a reason to visit the site again and again.

This is where the different between tactics and strategy comes into play. Strategy comes before tactics. Strategy is the overall plan – the big picture of who the company wants to be, why this is important and where they want to go. Tactics on the other hand, address the details such as the when, where, and how, and reinforces the overall strategy. How a company employs the social media platforms is part of their tactical plan. Why they engage these platforms is part of the strategy. Strategy must first address who a company is seeking to attract, what is the valuable information that results in turning visitors into content consumers, and then what are the expected outcomes that motivate a consumer to become a client. These are the strategic questions that must be addressed in order for a social media tactical plan to be successful.

 This completes my review of the book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing” by Shama Hyder Kabani. Again, it’s a great review for marketing managers and business owners interested in understanding why a business should have an on-line social media strategy and offers many useful points to get such a strategy started.

Ms Kabani begins the book by stating that “successful on-line marketing can be broken down into three distinct components.“ These components are described by the acronym ACT and defined as: “A”  attract – get attention or stand out to attract traffic to your website.  “C” convert – conversion happens when you turn a stranger into a consumer or a customer. She goes further to say that a “consumer takes information or product samples, but may not purchase” (if you are reading this Blog – you are a consumer of the information provided). One of the points she makes about on-line marketing is that companies have to work constantly to turn (convert) consumers into customers. And – “T” transform – turn examples of past and present successes into what the author calls “magnetic forces of attraction.” This might be referred to a building a “buzz” for your product or when a “YouTube” video goes “viral” and generates millions of views. The point for most companies is that a million views might be great at boosting morale – but at some point a percentage of those hits must convert into a revenue producing event – this means a sale.

While the book is targeted at on-line marketing and specifically offering advice on three of the most popular social media sources (Face Book, Twitter, and Linked In), these lessons are a review traditional marketing re-written within a twenty-first century communication channel. What I like is the focus on the fundlements that every marketer and therefore every business owner should know.  My review of the first part of the book is short and simple. This is possible because Ms. Kabani has distilled a whole field of study down to three words – Attract, Convert, and Transform. There it is – a whole four-year course in marketing management summed up in three words – attract, convert, and transform.

Attract – the first element attract is again defined in three words to describe what any successful marketing strategy must have in order to be successful. This applies regardless as to on-line, in-print, in-store merchandising or some other channel communicating with the potential customer. A successful strategy must have (1) a brand, (2) a desired outcome and (3) some sort of differentiator. Without delving too deeply into these three areas, the author provides a short description of each which allows the reader to quickly estimate whether his or her company is getting it right. Let’s keep it simple. A business owner is focused on a host of other areas besides marketing. However, in a short amount of time if that owner takes time to look at their own brand, think about how they describe their desired outcome and explain how their product is differentiated from the competition they can gauge the health of their marketing program. A marketing managers first warning sign would be if the owner isn’t able to express what their brand stands for, what their customers expect or why their product is different that the competition. I would guess that in most cases one or more of these areas is not fully developed or synchronized with the other two. If that’s the case, the marketing strategy is about as effective as a two legged stool. So what are these three simple words which make up “attract?’

1. Brand – brand in this case is described as being able to sum up your product or service offering in one word. That is extremely difficult to do and I think most companies are more inclined to use sentences, paragraphs and booklets to explain their brand. However, I agree with Ms. Kabani in that if you can’t sum up the essence of your brand in a word (or even two words) then you don’t know what your brand stands for. So what about an example – when I think about brand, I think about what a company stands for or what they do. I think a lot of companies think their brand is excellence or service or quality. I think in many cases it’s much more evident and that a brand is probably what the company is known for – their most successful product or service. The key here is that whatever that one word is – it must be tied (synched) back into both the product and the expectations of the customer. So if the brand is quality but the product is not reliable or if the customer is looking for a low price – then there might be a mismatch in the brand. You might have a great brand but it won’t translate into increased sales.
2. Outcome – what’s the outcome you help your client to achieve? Ms Kabani says this should be summed up in a sentence or one line.  Classics might be “built Ford tough” or “the pause that refreshes.” In a sentence, what does your product do for the customer? I think this is an often overlooked exercise because how the outcome if defined supports how your product is differentiated from the competition. For instance, suppose your brand is protective eyewear and your outcome is “protect vision.” In this case a company could be overlooking a key reinforcement for its approach to differentiation by failing to include some acknowledgement that how the eyewear looks to the wearer may be equally important to the customer. An element of style is now part of the outcome. How the item looks could lead towards a differentiation strategy based on both fashion and technical  protection.
3. Differentiator – what makes your product in Ms Kabani’s words “inherently” different from the hundreds of other companies and products? Take military protective eyewear again. All eyewear procured by the US military must meet the same level of ballistic testing – so in essence, they all do about the same thing. So what makes one manufacturer more successful than another? I think partly the brand and partly how well the company has understood that the customer’s expected outcome includes more than eye protection. When you buy a set of Oakley or Wiley X as compared to Revision or Smith Optics, what in the customer’s mind is the differentiation? All the glasses are priced similar, all are made from the same basic materials, all are manufactured in the United States and all meet the same high ballistic testing required by the military. So what sets one apart for from the others? The successful company has to build that perception of difference based on how customers think about their brand  (internalized?) and how their product contributes something that is different yet valued from that of the competition to the customers expected outcome.

What I enjoy about this “Zen” approach to marketing is the simplicity (interestingly enough simplicity is another Zen concept). Instead of being paralyzed by the hundreds of different analytic approaches a company can take towards marketing such as magazine or news print, television or radio, celebrity endorsement or user testimonial – here we see that any marketing strategy can be described and evaluated based on the three principles: understanding your brand, knowing the outcomes your customers expect, and having a clear message for how your offering is different than all the rest.  All the rest is really about the tactics you chose to implement your marketing strategy.  Although this book is focused on social media, the concepts readily apply to any marketing situation. Ms Kabani states that the number one reason for failure at social media marketing is “that companies don’t have a solid foundation.” I take this to mean that companies haven’t developed a strategy based on a well defined brand, don’t understand their customers expected outcome and haven’t taken the time to understand how their product is different from the competition.

Strategy – ah there it is. This little word seems to be constantly overlooked, misused, or confused with the much more satisfying word “tactics.”  Tactics are much more fun – companies get to do something with tactics, spend money on catalogs, trade shows, or new products and then see what happens afterwards. However, without first establishing the reasons (strategy) for a tactic a company never knows whether those activities are accomplishing anything. However, this is the subject of the second part of this review which looks at strategy versus tactics in the book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing” by Shama Hyder Kabani.

Comments by Mr. John Asaro, VP Marketing for Propper International report that “Propper is honored to be a part of such a groundbreaking development in military and law enforcement concealment,” and that “We are dedicated to providing the best possible apparel to the soldiers and officers who serve our country, and our partnership with A-TACS solidifies that effort.”

During the recent SOFEX conference at Ft Bragg, NC, I had a prototype A-TACS uniform on hand to show Special Operations Forces members. After unanimous agreement that “this is a great pattern” and “a move in the right direction,” the most common question asked was “why this color?”

I had to think a minute about why I these colors were selected instead of any of the thousands of other color combinations.  Instead of delving into the science of camouflage patterns, I would offer a rationale from a book published in 2004 called “The Pentagon’s New Map” written by Mr. Thomas P.M. Barnett (published by Berkley Books, New York). The book offers a clear, visual answer for the A-TACS and Propper International product – a world map.

When reviewing the map presented by Mr. Barnett showing the major United States of America combat operations from 1990 through 2003, you immediately understand geographically, where combat has been focused and is most likely to remain. This is why the A-TACS pattern is so relevant. Future combat zones will continue to center around the horizontal areas the span of the equator. This includes Central American, North Africa and sub-Sahara Africa, the region around the Middle East, and the region around the South China Sea. If the premise of the book is right, then this pattern is an excellent choice for concealment in future conflicts. The author does an excellent job at laying out why he feels this area is the focus of conflict. He is clear to state that its “neither a religion (Islam) nor a place (the Middle East), but a condition – disconnectedness” from the rest of the world, that is driving current and future wars (for more on the author’s premise and recommendations, I invite you to review his book).  I think for our purposes in talking about camouflage and concealment, the book lays out one of the best arguments for why this pattern may be the most effective.

For all the complete details see the press release at http://a-tacs.com/2010/11/propper-international%E2%84%A2-introduces-a-tacs-acus-for-spring-2011/  and for more information on Propper A-TACS ACUs, contact info@a-tacs.com.

Propper is a leading manufacturer for the Department of Defense and has produced more than 75 million garments for the U.S. Military. For more information, visit their web page at  www.propper.com.

ATEC, which until today was headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, “is responsible for all US Army weapon-system test and evaluation programs.” According to LTG William J. Troy, Director fo the Army Staff, who served as the host of today’s Assumption of Command, the purpose of ATEC ”is to seek the truth.”  He focused on the need by the Army staff to have a true picture of how systems and programs operate in order to deploy the best capabilities to soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to LTG Troy, “virtually every Army system is tested by ATEC.”

From the ATEC PAO Website, “ATEC oversees three organizations: the Army Evaluation Center (now headquartered at APG); the Developmental Test Command, headquartered at APG.; and the Operational Test Command, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas.” Further “ATEC test centers and ranges conduct thousands of test events daily at locations across the continental United States, Alaska and in various tropical locations.”

MG Dellarocco, prior to assuming command of ATEC, since June 2007 served as the Program Executive Officer, Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. MG Dellarocco highlighted the ATEC mission by stating “the fact is, all the equipment worn, used and carried by soldiers into battle today is provided in some form or fashion by this group assembled here today.” He further stated that however, this day was not about himself or those assembled there today but about the soldier. According to the new CG, “this program (ATEC) is about the soldier” and he dedicated the ceremony “to soldiers deployed in Afghanistan” and clarified that “the people in this room are the people who ensure that soldiers get the very best equipment that our country can provide.”  In closing, MG Dellarocco stressed that “the Soldier is out customer – it is all about the Soldier.”

For more information on ATEC http://www.atec.army.mil/

Today, as he did for the third year in a row that I have attended, Gen Casey recapped where the US Army has been over the last year and highlighted significant progress in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year’s address was different in addition to recapping the progress in the four areas of strategic focus, Gen Casey introduced for the first time the concept of shifting the Army’s focus to the second decade.

Gen Casey reviewed the concepts he introduced in 2008 involving the “long war,” and that the US Army was involved in “a period of sustained and persistent conflict” against a “violent and ideological enemy.” By far, the General’s most impactful statement was that “this war is far from over.”

The focus for the US Army which is finally coming into balance after nine long years of battle, will be to shift focus into the second decade – the second decade of the century and the second decade of the war. He looks ahead to a time of enduring and persistent conflict. Says Gen Casey, “this war is not over, we just all wont be going at the same time.”

In order to sustain this second decade, the critical element for the US Army to be successful is balance and this means operational tempo. Where in the past, soldiers could expect to be deployed one year out and then maybe one year back at home station, according to the Chief of Staff, the Army is coming back into balance to allow for the 24 to 36 months required to recover from a one year deployment. The General sees real progress towards rebuilding and restoring the strength of soldiers and units. Soon, according to Gen Casey, the Army will have as many units training as dedicated to fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is critical for the Army to maintain its combat edge and be available for other requirements around the world.

His advice to up and coming unit commanders was this; “Dont get disappointed if you don’t go in 12 (2012), because you will go in 13, and 14 (2013 and 2014).” As he said earlier, “we just all wont go at the same time.”