Incoming

Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of Naval Operations who has long been an advocate for transformational weapons systems and integrating Navy information systems with those of the other services, retired late last month.Adm. Michael G. Mullen, who commanded U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Allied Joint Force Command Naples, replaced Clark during a ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. A spokesman for Clark said the admiral has not decided on his future plans.Clark, the chief of Naval Operations since July 2000, pushed for the development of the high-tech DD(X) warships and the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).DD(X) warships feature sophisticated automation systems that will allow the Navy to operate with smaller crews than older destroyers. LCS will offer high-speed transit, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and will share tactical information with manned and unmanned Navy aircraft, ships, submarines and units. It will also use advanced systems for weapons, sensors, data fusion, command, control, communications, computing and self-defense.The Army has hired Accenture Ltd. to develop a consolidated financial management system for active, Reserve and National Guard units under a $537 million contract.The Army’s Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems awarded the 10-year, General Fund Enterprise Business System contract to Accenture of Reston, Va.“We are very pleased and excited to finally have a contract in place and an integration partner to help the Army modernize their financial management information systems in support of Army transformation objectives,” said Cherie Smith, project officer for GFEBS, in a release.GFEBS, a joint financial-management program established in October 2003, is designed to consolidate the functions of the legacy Standard Financial System, the Standard Operations and Maintenance Research and Development System, and the Defense Joint Accounting System.The goal of the consolidation is to give Army and Defense Department officials a better idea of how money is disbursed through the general and working capital funds.