Soldiers Urged To Reach Out To PEO Soldier Online

By Martha C. Koester - NCO Journal

May 5, 2016

Download the PDF

The Clip-on Sniper Night Sight is one of PEO Soldier’s successful projects, which originated within the Soldier Enhancement Program. (Photos courtesy of PEO Soldier)

Program Executive Office Soldier prides itself on its commitment to the Soldier. To ensure that protection is prioritized, PEO Soldier takes every opportunity to reach out to Soldiers for their feedback by using online avenues such as Ask the PEO NCOs and the Soldier Enhancement Program.

“The Soldier Enhancement Program was designed to figure out what other capabilities are available that are mature to a level where we can just do a ‘buy, try and decide,’ methodology” said Master Sgt. Robert Campbell, senior enlisted advisor to Project Manager Soldier Warrior, PEO Soldier. “It’s where we will look at the product and find out, ‘Do Soldiers really like this?’ We will buy a few of these, give it to a company-sized element and let them play with it.”

The Soldier Enhancement Program also boasts the Soldier Power portfolio as another of its successes. The Soldier Power portfolio consists of the Squad Power Manager, the Modular Universal Battery Charger, the Soldier Worn Integrated Power Equipment Systems and the Conformal Battery. (Photos courtesy of PEO Soldier)

More than 40 percent of Soldier equipment from PEO Soldier originated from SEP. Campbell said the cost-efficient program calls for minimal testing evaluation to determine if an initiative meets military specifications and where it fits into the program of record.

“We don’t waste time on research, development, test and evaluation, like when the Army used to build things from scratch,” Campbell said. “Now we’re leveraging current technologies out on the commercial market, whether it be commercial-off-the-shelf, government-off-shelf or non-developmental items and minimize all that RDT&E.”

Anyone can propose an item to SEP at www.peosoldier.army.mil/sep/

A Council of Colonels, which meets twice a year in March and September, gets the final decision on whether an initiative meets the cut. SEP is jointly managed by Program Executive Office Soldier, Project Manager Soldier Warrior and the Maneuver Center of Excellence Soldier Division.

Soldiers who have questions for PEO Soldier’s NCOs on equipment or technological capabilities are urged to visit the Ask the PEO NCOs page at www.peosoldier.army.mil/feedback/contactForm.asp?type=csm

“Soldiers can get information about PEO Soldier as a whole, if they have specific questions about any program, whether it’s sensors and lasers or uniforms, and we will provide immediate response,” said Master Sgt. Reiko Carter, senior enlisted advisor to Project Manager Soldiers Sensors and Lasers. “If we need to make phone calls to the unit to provide clear information that Soldiers were unable to interpret from the website, we will give the unit a call and clear it up.”

Ultimately the more information these programs provide about PEO Soldier, the better, the NCOs said.

“We have information firsthand and can get clarification,” Carter said. “That’s the main thing. The more awareness, that’s great.”