AUSA Panel Highlights Workforce Skills Needed for Army Modernization

Technology is central to the U.S. Army’s modernization efforts, but new capabilities depend on people who can implement, maintain, and operate them effectively. That workforce issue was the focus of a panel held on October 14 at AUSA Annual 2024, where participants discussed the skills the Army needs and how personnel capacity affects the ability to realize the potential of modernization technology. The event centered on operational and workforce requirements rather than a particular acquisition or program announcement.

The discussion brought together Army leaders and an industry representative with perspectives spanning recruiting, civilian career management, and technology services. Guest speakers included COL Kris Saling, Acting Director of the Innovation Directorate at U.S. Army Recruiting Command; Craig S. Zeitler, Director of the Army Civilian Career Management Activity at the Civilian Human Resources Agency; and Stephanie Boone-Shaw, Senior Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton. Their participation connected the challenge of sourcing and managing personnel with the practical demands of delivering and sustaining Army modernization.

The panel’s central workforce questions are relevant to contractors supporting Army technology programs: which skillsets are required, how the service can find and train people with those capabilities, how it can retain them, and how personnel needs may change in the future. These considerations can affect implementation schedules, technology operations, sustainment planning, and the government’s ability to absorb new capabilities. For industry, workforce development is therefore a potential component of mission delivery—not simply a staffing matter separate from technical performance.

The event is an informational signal, not an announced procurement opportunity. The source identifies no solicitation, contract award, funding amount, acquisition schedule, or procurement timeline. Contractors can use the themes to inform market research and proposal planning for relevant Army technology or human-capital work, while avoiding assumptions that the panel represents a forthcoming requirement. Any specific opportunity would need to be confirmed through subsequent Army acquisition notices or other official procurement information.

• Event: AUSA Annual 2024 panel held October 14, 2024, on workforce needs for Army modernization.
• Modernization dependency: Army technology must be effectively implemented, maintained, and operated to reach its full potential.
• Workforce topics: Required skillsets, recruiting, training, retention, and how personnel requirements may evolve.
• Army participants: COL Kris Saling, Acting Director of the Innovation Directorate, U.S. Army Recruiting Command; and Craig S. Zeitler, Director of the Army Civilian Career Management Activity, Civilian Human Resources Agency.
• Industry participant: Stephanie Boone-Shaw, Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton.
• Contractor relevance: Providers may connect workforce-development capabilities to implementation, maintenance, operations, recruiting, training, and retention needs.
• Proposal consideration: Companies shaping Army technology or human-capital proposals can address workforce capacity as an enabler of delivery and sustainment.
• Acquisition status: The discussion disclosed no solicitation, contract, funding, or procurement timeline; it should not be treated as a specific buying signal.