Army CIO's new 500-day plan mirrors old one

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Army’s Office of the Chief Information Officer issued its latest 500-day strategic plan this week in time for its annual LandWarNet conference. But even as the Army’s top information technology officers took turns articulating portions of those plans at plenary and breakout sessions, many were kept busy behind closed doors between sessions, hammering out just what was to be accomplished and how those plans were to be executed in the coming months.The new 500-day plan reads much like the prior plan, which was last updated in October 2006. The vision, mission and six strategic goals remain unchanged, but the new plan lays out a series of 20 new or updated objectives. And it puts new emphasis on specific, near-term initiatives.Maj. Gen. Jeffery Sorenson, the nominee to succeed outgoing Army CIO Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, said he was already at work developing a series of 100-day plans that would define in further detail goals and individuals responsible for accomplishing them.Those goals include:Sorenson was reluctant to put a release date on those plans until he has been confirmed by the Senate.In an announcement earlier this month, the administration said Sorenson also would become a lieutenant general.Sorenson has been deputy for acquisition and systems management in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASAALT) since 2004. Before that, he was program executive officer for tactical missiles. Sorenson will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general if the Senate confirms him as Army CIO.Although Sorenson has limited experience with communications and IT, he has had extensive practice as an acquisitions executive. His past positions include director of the acquisition directorate at the Office of the Director of Information Systems for Command, Control, Communications and Computers; senior military assistant to the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; and assistant deputy of systems management and horizontal technology integration at ASAALT.He has also been director of program control at the Joint Tactical Fusion Program Office, director of science and technology integration at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Development, product manager at the Ground Based Common Sensor-Light program, and project manager for Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition.Sorenson has a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Military Academy and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. He is a graduate of the program manager and executive program manager courses at the Defense System Management College, the Armed Forces Staff College and the Army War College. He is a registered certified public accountant in Illinois. He was named the Army’s project manager of the year for 1998, and he has won the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Meritorious Service Medal., .