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General Manager Updates 11 February 2008 We are in full swing with our ETASS Transition – having started work on five of the initial task orders and adding seven more on 19 February 2008. All task order transitions will be started by early March, and the transition will be completed by 31 March 2008. We have been on-boarding people at the major Geographically Separated Units and will be continuing our on-boarding throughout the next month. For those of you that have received offer packages, we are trying to give you a specific start date and on-boarding date. For others, we are preparing offer packages as we discuss the task orders with our customers. Our Human Resources Department is working almost 24 hours per day to keep up, so hopefully letters will be to you shortly. We truly appreciate your patience. We held two additional Town Halls in the Hanscom area over the last two weeks – two in San Antonio and one at Langley. We likely will have at least one additional WebEx Town Hall. I encourage you to join us if you can, since it is a great venue to get your questions answered. If you cannot attend, please see the Town Hall charts enclosed herein. It is great to be working on important projects with our customers after such a lengthy wait. I’m looking forward to meeting you face-to-face in the near future – communications are always better that way. We still have some important vacancies within our task orders, so I encourage those of you who haven’t applied to do so through this secure web site application. VR,
3 January 2008 Earlier today, Rogers Starr – President of Jacobs Technology Inc. – and I met with several members of the senior leadership team at the Electronic Systems Center. We discussed their expectations for the ETASS contract and reviewed some of the program changes that have occurred since the contract was initially awarded in May 2007. We expressed our desire to begin work as soon as possible. It was a very positive meeting. During the past two weeks, we have also met with government teams from each of the known and most of the anticipated task orders. In each of these meetings we heard high expectations expressed for the ETASS team. We also heard that they believe we will meet those high expectations. It is clear that the ETASS contract and our ETASS transition plan have the full support of the ESC government team. We are planning to have all seven of the initial ETASS tasks transitioned by 31 March 2007. During this time, we will also receive additional Statements of Objectives to review, quote, and return to the government. These tasks will likewise be transitioned by 31 March 2007. Is this challenging? You bet it is, but it’s a challenge we have been planning for and eagerly anticipating. Over the next month, we will be holding additional Town Hall Meetings and WebEx conference calls. During this time, we will also begin the on-boarding process for the first wave of new ETASS employees at Hanscom and at the geographically separated units. This web site is the best source for Town Hall Meeting information and WebEx timing. On-boarding will be scheduled on an individual basis. If you have not yet submitted your application on our secure web site, please take a few minutes to do so today. The ETASS team is ready to go to work! As always, feel free to contact us at 781.259.4919 or 866.499.5325 (toll free) with any questions. VR,
14 December 2007 Yesterday we attended an ETASS proposal debriefing conducted by several senior government ETASS evaluators. They reviewed the strengths of our proposed approach and offered insight of why our team was the clear winner. During and after the meeting, it was readily apparent that the Government has high expectations of the ETASS contractor team, and they believe we will meet those high expectations. Now that we have been able to talk to our government counterparts, I’m even more confident that our proposed approach to the ETASS contract will result in continuously improved processes, increased responsiveness, reduced cost to the Government, and more consistent systems engineering processes across the ESC portfolio of programs. You will hear these three themes over and over and over again as we transition to ETASS. They are the pillars we will build upon as we assume contract responsibility and begin our stewardship of one of the crown jewels of the Air Force – the cutting edge advantage of near-real-time C4I delivered to the warfighter’s hands. Many of you have already done the excellent work that has set the bar high. On the ETASS contract, we will rely on your continued superior performance to raise the bar even higher. You and I will begin the journey with the transition of the first seven task orders over the next few weeks. It won’t always be easy, but we already have sound, tested plans in place to guide our way. I’m looking forward to our journey as we begin to transition in earnest. As I told you in my last message, we are making every attempt to keep from disturbing your holiday plans. However, since some offer letters will be sent out close to the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, we continue to ask that you reply promptly. As always, feel free to contact us at 781.259.4919 or 866.499.5325 (toll free) with any questions. And please continue to exercise extra caution as you drive during the holidays. VR,
6 December 2007 The protest is finally over, and we are beginning the process of transitioning from ITSP II to ETASS. There are a lot of things to be done in a short amount of time, so let me spend a moment reviewing what will be happening and how it will affect you. Over the next few weeks, we will be in touch with each of you who have accepted contingent offers. You will be scheduled for on-boarding/orientation sessions to familiarize you with the ETASS team, enroll you in our benefits program, and train you in timekeeping and CMMI. During this time, we will also be discussing our transition planning with the Government, and once we have assessed their requirements for potential changes, we will be making job offers for the remaining positions in the first seven task orders. Once you have received and accepted a job offer, you will be scheduled for on-boarding and orientation. We expect the Government will also begin the process that will allow us to staff positions for the remaining task orders. The process for interviewing, offers, acceptance, on-boarding, and orientation will be the same as for the earlier task orders and will be conducted in parallel with the earlier task orders whenever possible. If you have not yet applied and are interested in joining the ETASS team, please take a few minutes to complete our easy and secure application process. We plan to hold Town Hall meetings at Hanscom and other potential locations during the transition period. For those who cannot attend a Town Hall meeting, we will hold WebEx conference calls to cover the same material. We will make every attempt to keep from disturbing your plans; however, some of the offers may be sent out close to the Christmas and New Years holidays. If you do receive an offer during this time, we ask that you reply promptly. Otherwise, please use the holiday period to enjoy time with your families, and remember to please, please be safe on the road. As always, feel free to contact us at 781.259.4919 or 866.499.5325 (toll free) with any questions. Please continue to visit this web site periodically. VR,
19 November 2007 It’s Thanksgiving week, and I just wanted to update the web site and wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. While we have all had “bad” and sometimes devastating things happen in our lives, we also have a tremendous number of things for which we are thankful. Many of these are small, but, when taken as a whole, we are truly blessed. I was thankful for the sunrise this morning and for my health. I’m thankful for my family, the abundance of food we have in this country, the warmth of our homes, and on and on and on. But, I am truly thankful for our freedom and to those who sacrifice their lives each day that we may enjoy this freedom. So, take a few moments to go over the list of things you are thankful for, and then share your thanksgiving with others who need a helping hand or at least a shoulder to lean on. I do hope your Thanksgiving holiday is wonderful and that you take the time to be thankful and grateful. Also, please, please be safe on the road, since this is the busiest time of the year for travel, and don’t talk on the cell phone while driving. On the ETASS front, as you may know, the evaluation continues on the basis of the original solicitation and the original proposals. There were no amendments to the RFP nor revised proposals required by the Air Force as a result of the GAO recommendation. We are eagerly anticipating the completion of the Government evaluation process expected next week. We remain very confident in the outcome and committed to the ESC mission. We are continuing our hiring and recruiting process and have attempted to contact all applicant candidates via direct mail. We had a few challenges in doing that but wanted to make the effort to keep those with and without contingent offers informed. I apologize for any confusion the letters may have caused. Thanks for your courtesy and understanding. In the last few weeks, we held additional interviews in Melbourne FL , Dayton , OH , and the Boston area. In addition, we have continued telephone interviews at other locations. We have also established a presence in Colorado Springs , and we are pressing forward with continued interviews at Hanscom. We are stepping up our efforts to have Task Leaders recruited and standing by to support the award as soon as it is announced. Thanks and congratulations to those of you have already submitted applications and accepted offers. Additional offers will be forthcoming this week. For those of you have yet to submit an application, now is the time. We are eager to meet with our Air Force customer, and we ready to go to work. We will remain in touch with you, and I am looking forward to serving with you. As always, feel free to contact us at 781.259.4919 or 866.499.5325 (toll free) with any questions. Please continue to visit this web site periodically. Very respectfully and Happy Thanksgiving,
7 September 2007 In an earlier update, I promised to keep you informed of our progress in the transition process and in the resolution of the protests. We have just learned that the GAO has sustained one element of the ETASS protests. It is our understanding that the issue is a legal one involving procedural documentation and record-keeping issues. We remain confident in the Government’s evaluation and are looking forward to a timely resolution as soon as possible. We are ready to go to work! In the mean time, we are steadfastly continuing the hiring and transition process and are looking forward to working with the ETASS Team. If you haven’t submitted your application yet, now is the time. As always, I will keep you posted. VR,
1 July 2007 With the 4th of July holiday upon us, I thought I would take a moment to provide a quick update on the ETASS Transition process. With the approval of our Air Force customer, we have moved on with the recruitment and hiring processes. While we have been asked to limit our ETASS discussions with Government personnel, we have been encouraged, without restriction, to exercise the Transition process with all non-Government personnel. Our initial focus has been to provide priority consideration for incumbent ITSP II personnel. We have held numerous Town Hall Meetings at Hanscom, Peterson, San Antonio, Melbourne, Dayton, and Montgomery. It was a pleasure to meet with many of you and discuss the Jacobs Team, the ETASS contract, and our Transition plans. Thanks for taking the time to meet with us! We have answered dozens of your questions, updated our ETASS web site, and received hundreds of applications. Hopefully we have provided you with the information that you will need in order to make the right career decision. We expect to issue initial job offers in the 7 - 10 days. Offers to the remaining talented candidates who are still under consideration for positions in a variety of labor categories in every Task Order will be forthcoming. Several factors are pacing our ability to complete the employment process for everyone we hope to place on the ETASS Team. At this time, we are unable to talk directly with our Air Force customer to finalize their staffing requirements. We must communicate with them to ensure we can exceed their expectations while aligning with contract requirements. In the meantime, we are diligently matching our candidates with our proposed job categories and salary ranges. It is important to you and to our Government customer that we get this right. Rest assured that we are moving forward in a prudent and expeditious manner. We remain committed to recruiting additional "first-choice" candidates. We will continue to update the ETASS web site and look forward to completing the ETASS Transition as soon as possible. We will keep you posted. In the meantime, please take some time this 4 th of July to celebrate freedom and to reflect on the great contribution you make to the ESC mission and your outstanding support to our deployed Warfighters. Please exercise caution and safety savvy in all of your holiday activities. Enjoy your time with your families and friends! I am looking forward to serving with you. Very Respectfully, Click here to learn more about the ETASS General Manager, Bruce Mills.
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