Lisha Adams
EXECUTIVE DEPUTY TO THE COMMANDING GENERAL
Lisha Adams assumed duties as the Executive Deputy to the Commanding General (EDCG) effective August 9, 2015. As EDCG, Ms. Adams is responsible for materiel life cycle management, acquisition support, personnel and resource management, industrial base operations, enterprise integration, research and development, and science and technology for a globally reaching command with over 63,000 personnel with an impact or presence in 144 locations globally and all 50 states. She previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness, the principal advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense leadership on policies, procedures, and actions related to the materiel readiness of Department of Defense weapons and other materiel systems.
Ms. Adams has over 30 years of experience in government service supporting Army and Joint Service programs. A graduate of the Army Materiel Command Materiel Maintenance Management Intern Program, she has held various leadership positions in acquisition and sustainment, including Logistics Division Chief, Unmanned Vehicle Systems Project Office; Director of Logistics, PEO for Tactical Missiles; and Principal Deputy, G-3, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. Selected for the Senior Executive Service in January 2011, Ms. Adams served as the Executive Director, Integrated Materiel Management Center, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. In June 2011, Ms. Adams was assigned as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/4 for Logistics Integration, responsible for sustaining the Joint Warfighter, through command and control of supply chain management, depot and National Maintenance Program operations, asset management and distribution, reset, and ammunition/chemical stockpile management.
Ms. Adams earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Birmingham-Southern College and received her Master of Business Administration degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. Ms. Adams is Defense Acquisition Level III certified in Program Management and Lifecycle Logistics.
Ms. Adams' awards include the Department of the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service; DA Meritorious Civilian Service Award; DA Superior Civilian Service Award; DA Civilian of the Year; Redstone Chapter AUSA, 2010; DA Integrated Logistics Support Achievement of the Year Award for ILS Management; and the Commander's Award for Civilian Service.
MG John George
Director, Force Development, U.S. Army, G-8
MG Cedric Wins
Commanding General, United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins serves as commanding general of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. RDECOM has the mission to provide innovative research, development and engineering to produce capabilities that provide decisive overmatch to the Army against the complexities of the current and future operating environments in support of the Joint Warfighter and the Nation.
Wins graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and was commissioned in the Field Artillery in July 1985. He is a graduate of the Field Artillery Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Command and General Staff College, and the National War College. He holds a master's degree in management from the Florida Institute of Technology and master's degree in national security and strategic studies from the National War College.
Before his assignment as RDECOM commander, Wins served as Director, Force Development in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8. During his 30 years of service, Wins has held leadership and staff assignments in the 7th Infantry Division (Light), Fort Ord, California; the 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth United States Army, Korea; Headquarters Department of the Army and the Joint Staff, The Pentagon; the 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; Strategic Planning, J-8, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; and the Requirement Integration Directorate, Army Capabilities Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
His deployments include Task Force Sinai, Multinational Force and Observers, Egypt, Operations Officers, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 21st Infantry (Light); Program Executive Officer, Joint Program Executive Office -- Afghanistan Public Protection Force, Combined Security Transition Command -- Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom; and Deputy Commander, Police, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Training Mission -- Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command -- Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom.
His awards and badges include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with One Oak Leaf Cluster), the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (with One Oak Leaf Cluster), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (with Two Oak Leaf Clusters), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (with One Oak Leaf Cluster) and Parachutist Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge and Army Staff Identification Badge.
MG Robert M. Dyess, Jr.
Deputy Director/Chief of Staff, Army Capabilities Integration Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
Major General Robert M. “Bo” Dyess assumed duties as the Deputy Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center on 6 July 2015.
After graduating from Appomattox County High School, in Virginia, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, NY. Upon graduation in 1982, MG Dyess was commissioned as an Infantry Officer.
During his 30 years of service, MG Dyess held command and staff assignments including: Platoon Leader, Battalion Adjutant, Rifle Company Commander, Headquarters Company Commander, Battalion Operations Officer, Deputy Division G-3, and Brigade Executive Officer during assignments in the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg NC, the 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized) in both Germany and at Fort Stewart, GA, and in the Eighth U.S. Army, Korea. During this time, he also served as a Tactical Officer, United States Army School of the Americas in Panama, participated in combat operations during OPERATION URGENT FURY in Grenada, and served as a Force Integration Officer in the Pentagon. From 2000 to 2008, MG Dyess served as a Force Integration Officer & Force Management Officer with the First Army at Fort Gillem, GA and, later, as the Director, Force Integration at United States Army Forces Command, Fort McPherson, GA. From June 2008 until August 2009, he served as the Division Chief for Force Integration, Combined Security Assistance Command - Afghanistan, & OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, Afghanistan. Upon redeployment from Afghanistan, he assumed duty as the Director, Requirements Integration, Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC), from August 2009 until May 2012. From 2012 to 2015, he was the Director of Force Development on the Army Staff at the Pentagon.
MG Dyess is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses; United States Army Command and General Staff College; Army Force Management Course; Air War College; and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School.
He holds a Masters of Science in Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Masters of Science in Strategic Studies from the United States Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
His military decorations include: Distinguished Service Medal, two Legion of Merits, two Bronze Stars, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, five Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, two Army Superior Unit Awards, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Ranger Tab, and the Senior Parachutist Badge.
MG Dyess is married to the former Sharon Hall of Brunswick, Georgia. The Dyesses have one daughter, Ms. Marilyn Dyess, a recent graduate of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
MG Susan Davidson
Commanding General, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, United States Army Pacific
Major General Susan A. Davidson assumed command of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command on 8 July 2016. She was born in Dade City, Fla. Her military career began as a Cadet at New Mexico Military Institute, followed by graduating from New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. She received her commission in May 1983 and came on active duty in April 1986.
General Davidson has held a wide variety of command and staff positions. Previous to this assignment, she served as commander of Defense Logistics Agency Distribution. Her key assignments include deputy commanding general/director of operations, SDDC; director, Integration and Strategy, G43/7 in the Deputy Chief of Staff Logistics, G4; executive officer to the deputy commanding general of Army Materiel Command; deputy G3, 13th Corps Support Command; joint mobility operations officer, U.S. Transportation Command; executive officer and support operations officer, 524th Corps Support Battalion; Group S4, 45th Corps Support Group; Army re-serve advisor, 78th Infantry Division; group plans officer, operations officer, and chemical staff officer, 7th Transportation Group; and director of Human Resources Command, Logistics Officers Assignment Branch for Captains.
General Davidson has commanded at company, battalion and brigade level in peace and war. She commanded the 870th Transportation Company for 17 months, including an 11-month deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. As a battalion commander, she commanded the 49th Movement Control Battalion forward during Operation Iraqi Freedom at Balad, Iraq, and at Fort Hood, Texas. In 2007, she assumed command of SDDC’s 599th Transportation Group, and deployed forward to simultaneously serve as commander of the 595th Terminal Transportation Group in Kuwait for six months before returning to Hawaii to finish her 599th command time.
Her military education includes the Chemical Officer Basic Course, Transportation Officer Advanced Course, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the Air Command and Staff College, Support Operations Course, Phase II, and the Navy War College. She holds a Master of Military Art and Science degree in Advanced Military Studies, and a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies.
General Davidson’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit (with 3 oak leaf clusters); Bronze Star (with 2 oak leaf clusters); Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal (with 4 oak leaf clusters); Army Commendation Medal (with 4 oak leaf clusters); Army Achievement Medal (with oak leaf cluster); Humanitarian Service Medal; and Army Staff Identification Badge.
Scott J. Davis
Program Executive Officer, Combat Support & Combat Service Support
Selected for the Senior Executive Service in November 2005, Mr. Scott J. Davis currently serves as the U.S. Army's Program Executive Officer for Combat Support & Combat Service Support. In this role, he provides professional and executive management for the development, systems integration, acquisition, testing, fielding, sustainment and improvement of diverse systems across the Army's transportation, quartermaster, ordnance, and engineer portfolios. With more than 125 programs in active management at all ACAT levels, and approximately 200 monitored in sustainment, he oversees an annual budget of approximately $2 billion and a total portfolio budget of approximately $11 billion (POM FY17-21). The PEO CS&CSS team includes five board-selected Joint and Army Project Managers and approximately 1,500 military and civilian teammates in PEO core and collocated matrix positions, liaison offices, fielding teams, indirect support positions and support contractors in five geographic locations.
From June 2010 to September 2013, he served as the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems. He previously served as the Deputy Program Executive Officer, PEO Integration, and was responsible for the organization and management of acquisition programs designed to support Brigade Combat Team (BCT) modernization.
Mr. Davis served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 30 years, and retired with the rank of colonel in May 2015. His last assignment was with the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics & Technology) as Director, Department of Army System Coordinator. He held a variety of operational positions from platoon leader through battalion executive officer, including deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In 1986, Mr. Davis began his civilian career serving as a Mechanical Engineer in Program Manager, Light Combat Vehicles. He was then assigned as the Lead Project Engineer, Line of Sight Anti-Tank System; Lead Project Engineer, Command and Control Vehicle; and Assistant Product Manager, Bradley Linebacker, Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems Project Management Office. In 1997, he became Assistant Project Manager, Bradley Research and Development, after which he served as the Deputy Product Manager, Infantry Carrier Vehicle Variants (now PM Stryker). His subsequent assignment was Director of Engineering, Future Combat Systems. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Davis was assigned as the Deputy Program Manager (Operations) (SES), PM Future Combat Systems (BCT). He then served as the Deputy Program Manager (Platform Integration) (SES), PM Future Combat Systems (BCT), before accepting the responsibility as Deputy Program Executive Officer, PEO Integration.
Mr. Davis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Wayne State University. His military training includes the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Combined Arms Staff Services School, Command & General Staff College, and the Advanced Program Manager’s Course, Defense Systems Management College.
Mr. Davis is an Acquisition Corps member and holds Level III Certifications in Program Management, and Systems Planning, Research, and Development – Systems Engineering, and Level II Certification in Systems Planning, Research, and Development – Program Systems Engineer. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal (3). His civilian awards and honors include the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service (2013), the Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2010), the Superior Civilian Service Award (2003), Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (2001 and 2008), the Army Engineer Association’s Bronze and Silver Orders of the de Fleury Medal, the Order of Saint Barbara Medal, and the Joseph P. Cribbins Medal awarded by the Association of the U.S. Army to the Army civilian of the year.
Lead Speaker:
Lisha Adams
Executive Deputy to the Commanding General
United States Army Materiel Command
Moderator:
MG Cedric T. Wins
Commanding General
United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Panelists:
MG John A. George
Director, Force Development
Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G‐8
MG Robert M. Dyess, Jr.
Deputy Director/Chief of Staff
Army Capabilities Integration Center
United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
MG Susan A. Davidson
Commander, 8th Theater Command
United States Army Pacific Command
Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Lexington Institute
Scott J. Davis
Program Executive Officer
Combat Support & Combat Service Support