[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11] [Senate] [Pages 15663-15665] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]IN RECOGNITION OF REAR ADMIRAL LEONARD VINCENT, SUPPLY CORPS, U.S. NAVY Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I recognize and honor Rear Admiral Leonard Vincent, U.S. Navy as he retires upon completion of 32 years of service to the Navy, The Department of Defense and the Nation. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a graduate of McAlester High School, Oklahoma he enlisted in the Navy Reserve in 1961. He graduated from Southeastern State College, Durant, Oklahoma, in 1965 and received his commission as a Ensign in the Navy Supply Corps that same year. In 1976 he receive his Masters in Business Administration from George Washington University. A distinguished professional, Admiral Vincent currently commands the Defense Systems Management College (DSMC). As the Commandant of DSMC, he has been a leader of change agents for acquisition reform. And he has brought a wealth of acquisition, logistics, and contract management experience to the vital task of training our nation's Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce. Afloat he has served as the Supply Officer of an amphibious ship, the USS Pensacola (LSD 38) and the Supply Officer of a submarine tender, the USS Dixon (AS 37). Ashore his assignments have included duty as Supply Officer with Naval Special Warfare Group and with Naval Inshore Warfare Command, Atlantic, both in Little Creek, Virginia. His varied acquisition assignments include Director of Contracts, Naval Supply Center, Puget Sound; Contracting Officer for the Supervisor, Shipbuilding and Repair, Bath, Maine; Director of the Combat Systems department and Director of the Contracts department at the Navy's inventory control point, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Assistant Commander for Contracts, Naval Air Systems Command; Deputy Director for Acquisition for the Defense Logistics Agency; and prior to his current assignment, RADM Vincent was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Fleet Supply and Ordnance, Pacific Fleet. [[Page 15664]] In addition to his current assignment, his command tours have included Commander, Defense Contract Administration Services Region, Los Angeles, California; Commander, Defense Contract Management Command International, Dayton, Ohio; and Commander, Contract Management Command, Washington, D.C. Throughout his career Admiral Vincent has displayed exemplary performance of duty, extraordinary initiative and leadership, keen judgment, and dedication to the highest principles of devotion to his country. He leaves the military and the acquisition community better by having served them. His contributions will have lasting consequence. Mr. President, Leonard Vincent, his wife Shirley and their three children, Lori, Tiffany and Stephen have made many sacrifices during his 32 year Navy career. A man of his leadership, enthusiasm and integrity is rare and while his honorable service will be genuinely missed, it gives me great pleasure today to recognize him before my colleagues and wish to him ``Fair Winds and Following Seas'' as he brings to a close a long and distinguished career in the United States Naval Service. I ask that an article and narrative on Rear Admiral Vincent be printed in the Record. The article and narrative follows: Rear Admiral Leonard Vincent--Commandant, Defense Systems Management College Rear Admiral Leonard ``Lenn'' Vincent became the Commandant Defense Systems Management College (DSMC), Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in January 1998. The College is a graduate-level institution that promotes sound systems-management principles by the acquisition workforce through education, research, consulting, and information dissemination. Admiral Vincent entered the Naval Reserve program as a sea- man recruit in October 1961. Upon graduation from Southeastern State Teachers College in Oklahoma, he received a commission in July 1965 from the Officers Candidate School, Newport, Rhode Island, as an ensign in the Supply Corps, U.S. Navy. Since returning to the Navy in 1970, RADM Vincent's wide variety of afloat and shore-based assignments have provided him extensive contracting, contract management, and logistics experience. Afloat he has served as the Supply Officer of an amphibious ship, the USS PENSACOLA (LSD 38) and the Supply Officer of a submarine tender, the USS DIXON (AS 37). Ashore his assignments have included duty as Supply Officer with Naval Special Warfare Group and with Naval Inshore Warfare Command, Atlantic, both in Little Creek, Virginia. He attended the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia; and then in Washington, D.C., he earned a Masters in Business Administration from George Washington University. His varied acquisition assignments include Director of Contracts, Naval Supply Center, Puget Sound; Contracting Officer for the Supervisor, Shipbuilding and Repair, Bath, Maine; Director of the Combat Systems department and Director of the Contracts department at the Navy's inventory control point, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Assistant Commander for Contracts, Naval Air Systems Command; Deputy Director for Acquisition for the Defense Logistics Agency; and prior to his current assignment, RADM Vincent was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Fleet Supply and Ordnance, Pacific Fleet. In addition to his current assignment as Commandant, DSMC, his command tours have included Commander, Defense Contract Administration Services Region, Los Angeles, Contract Administration Services Region, Los Angeles, California; Commander, Defense Contract Management Command International, Dayton, Ohio; and Commander, Contract Management Command, Washington, D.C. His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal with gold star, Legion of Merit with gold star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three gold stars, Navy Commendation Medal, and Navy Achievement Medal. ____ Narrative Rear Admiral Vincent distinguished himself by exceptionally outstanding achievement throughout thirty two years of service culminating in his distinguished performance as Commandant of the Defense Systems Management College (DSMC) from 30 December 1997 to 31 July 1999. Admiral Vincent exhibited extensive knowledge, technical competence, tireless energy, imagination, and superb leadership. As Commandant, he focused the College on improvements essential for the entire Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce (AWF), and dramatically improved the quality and greatly expanded the scope of their education and training. During his tenure, student throughput increased by nearly five percent, greatly helping the military departments to meet the formal acquisition education requirements that public law imposed on all major system program managers. These achievements are all the more remarkable because they were accomplished during a period when DSMC funding decreased by over seven percent, and personnel by over 11 percent. Admiral Vincent also successfully focused the exceptional capabilities of the College's staff and faculty on meeting the rapidly changing needs of the acquisition workforce. Upon assuming command of DSMC, he led the College's senior leadership through the development of a corporate plan that set the course into the new millennium for the education and training of acquisition professionals. This dynamic plan provided the foundation for DSMC operations and outlined a series of strategic goals, objectives, and metrics that guided the College through the efficient accomplishment of its four-pronged mission of providing education and training, research, consulting, and information dissemination. He successfully challenged the College to achieve these improvements, while maintaining the highest quality of support available to the acquisition workforce. Anticipating the need to achieve a cultural transformation within the acquisition community, Admiral Vincent encouraged the students, staff, and faculty at DSMC to become change agents and instilled in them a sense of urgency to keep up the momentum of Acquisition Reform. He directed the assessment and revision of over thirty DSMC-sponsored courses to reflect the latest changes, ensuring that Acquisition Reform initiatives are seamlessly threaded throughout the 12 functional areas. To further enrich the learning environment, he spearheaded the effort to recruit students from industry, bringing a commercial business perspective into every classroom--he served as the catalyst to stimulate partnering with industry and effective teaming within program offices. Beginning with the students, staff, and faculty at DSMC, he successfully developed a cultural mindset that would revolutionize the way DoD approaches its business affairs-- embracing best practices, empowering the workforce, and achieving optimal solutions at the lowest costs. In a push to constantly improve the quality of integrated courses, Admiral Vincent created the Acquisition Management Curriculum Enhancement Program (AMCEP) to seamlessly integrate the Acquisition Management Functional Board requirements with the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) course development and delivery processes. The result was a continuous evolutionary process that facilitated and improved the current integrated acquisition management curriculum. The enhancement effort created a learning environment characterized by a problem-based learning curriculum which replicated to the highest possible fidelity actual problems the graduates would likely encounter in their subsequent assignments. Additionally, to further improve the efficiency at DSMC, Admiral Vincent consolidated all information/automation systems enhancement efforts at the College under the Chief Information/Knowledge Officer. By concentrating the information technology activities under one person, Admiral Vincent effectively orchestrated the consolidation of automated systems requirements, significantly reducing costs and making educational information widely available to internal and external customers. Under Admiral Vincent's guidance, the College underwent the process of standardizing the automation equipment in each classroom and upgrading the server infrastructure, along with video tele-conference capability, to better support distance learning conversion efforts of DSMC courses. This initiative, while minimizing costs to infuse information technology capability, not only improved the students' learning environment, but also made acquisition education and training more accessible to the workforce. Admiral Vincent also provided the thrust behind the development of the Integrated Curriculum Environment (ICE) database, an automated, centralized management system for DSMC courseware and supporting documentation. This standardized curriculum management tool will significantly simplify the course revision process, and eventually, will make course materials available electronically to all students and accessible by all graduates. Through his active leadership and visionary foresight of the information revolution, Admiral Vincent launched DSMC--and acquisition education and training--into the 21st Century, guiding the College through the transformation process of becoming the acquisition workforce's Center for Continuous Learning. Admiral Vincent further improved the stature of DSMC as the Department of Defense world-class center for international acquisition education excellence. Under his leadership, DSMC co-sponsored the 10th Annual International Defense Educational Arrangement (IDEA) seminar with France and [[Page 15665]] hosted the 11th IDEA seminar in the United States--a fifteen- nation symposium on Intra-European and Transatlantic armaments cooperation. Additionally, Admiral Vincent initiated the first IDEA Pacific seminar with the Australian Defense Force Academy, providing eight nations of the Pacific Rim with a forum for exchange of acquisition best practices. With the growing emphasis on international cooperation, the College also hosted biannual international acquisition forums for DUSD (International Programs) and the Services international program offices. As the principal U.S. representative to IDEA, Admiral Vincent provided the leadership and facilitated international cooperation, significantly advancing the understanding and effectiveness of international cooperative acquisition issues among participating nations. His distinguished career included additional command tours as Commander, Defense Contract Administration Services Region, Los Angeles; Commander, Defense Contract Management Command International; Deputy Director for Acquisition Management and Commander, Defense Contract Management Command, Defense Logistics Agency. Throughout the period of his assignment as Commandant, DSMC, and his thirty-two-year career, Admiral Vincent displayed exemplary performance of duty, extraordinary initiative and leadership, keen judgment, and dedication to the highest principles of devotion to his country. He leaves the Defense Systems Management College and the acquisition community better by having served them. His personal dedication has been solely responsible for numerous contributions of lasting consequence, which will enhance the ability of each Service to accomplish its mission better, now and in the future. His exceptional performance in extremely important and challenging positions has been in keeping with the highest traditions of the Service and reflects great credit upon himself, the United States Navy, and the Department of Defense. ____________________