Grace E. Dalton: Coordinating email migration

In the past year, the Army has rolled out some of its biggest IT changes as it moves toward an enterprise system for various services. Perhaps the largest effort was the migration of roughly 1 million Army users to enterprise email, a foundational undertaking that sets the stage for the department's future in IT services.

Grace Dalton was instrumental in coordinating those efforts behind the scenes, and quickly emerged as a key player. Whether she is facilitating discussions among various command levels, helping to validate a range of Army IT requirements, or reviewing and implementing policies, Dalton's role is as busy as it is critical.

"And she does it all with a smile on her face," said Lt. Col. Guy DeWees, a branch chief in the Army CIO's office.

But one of the most remarkable things about Dalton is the fact that she graduated only two years ago from the Army Department's Civilian Career Intern Program.

"The intern program positioned me to have that opportunity to be in the room early on as senior leadership discussed the strategic IT issues affecting the Army," she said. "It allowed me to experience firsthand how the issues are discussed and how it's transparent down to the action officer level. One of larger things I took from that, now being in the action officer role, is that it allowed me to articulate issues in how the senior leadership wants them presented."

Dalton's responsibilities today approach the level of a deputy, DeWees said.

"Particularly notable is the fact that she is relatively new to the Army and she's operating at such a high level, impacting what happens throughout the Army," DeWees said. "It's remarkable to have a relatively young government employee with that kind of responsibility. The fact that she's excelling and understands not only the requirements but the politics behind working in the [Army Department] staff element makes her exceptional."