Data analytics worker named employee of quarter | Military Scene

A member of Army Materiel Command’s Logistics Data Analysis Center has been recognized alongside 10 employees as an Employee of the Quarter for going beyond the call of duty during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. For Robert Brown, a civilian program management specialist in the LDAC Technology Delivery Branch, this meant devoting over 80 hours to expertly understand and effectively utilize the Army Vantage data analytics program.

“No one was more surprised than me when told that I was selected,” Brown said.

In his daily duties, Brown assists with overseeing the development of Army data and logistics programs and platforms. This encompasses strict monitoring for overall costs, performance and ensuring that each respective project progresses according to a prearranged schedule and program scheme.

“Inside the Technology Delivery Branch, we manage programs while they’re being built or modernized,” Brown said. “Our job is to take a program, facilitate and coordinate with functional experts and users, and make the program work.”

Before assuming his current civilian role, Brown served in all three components of the Army. Initially enlisting through the Delayed Entry Program, he completed basic training at Fort McClellan and began his eight-year active-duty career as Military Police in 1992. Following his separation from active duty, Brown matriculated at university, joined the Army National Guard, and soon after deployed to Iraq.

“It’s not easy to leave the Army community behind you,” he said.

Returning from Iraq, Brown obtained a degree in information systems and signed up for the Army Reserve, eventually finding a role with Army Reserve Sustainment Command. There, he was introduced to Army Materiel Command and the greater extent of Army logistics. Brown joined the Logistics Support Activity, as LDAC was previously known, as an Army civilian in 2013, where he has worked since, and ultimately retired from the Army Reserve in 2015.

As an AMC Employee of the Quarter, Brown was chiefly recognized for accompanying his day-to-day projects within LDAC with extensive training and exploration into a newer data analytics program: the Army Vantage system.

“I took a proactive approach to a platform called Army Vantage, which came out two years ago,” he said. “It’s a system designed so that every user has the same data, integrated from new or legacy systems.”

During the award nomination period, Brown self-conducted and recorded weeks-worth of training, all that the Vantage system had to offer, and experimented with the many developer and user capabilities of the platform. He practiced with programming, integrating and visualizing data sets from across the Army enterprise into real-time, open dashboards, which would soon prove significant for Installation Management Command.

“My first project was working with IMCOM and displaced Army families,” Brown said. “Their main tracking system was going away, they needed a new home for it, and I thought, ‘we have Vantage, let’s build something out from there.’”

Brown’s diligent training and the overall success of the project, which afforded IMCOM a critical, automated Army family tracking capability, has led to subsequent external enterprise and internal AMC projects.

“Anytime there is an issue or question, it’s interesting to figure out how to better leverage data to get a better answer for our customers or leaders,” Brown said.

“The organization benefits twofold by leveraging Robert’s functional and technical skills,” Marsha Kelly-Evans, LDAC director, said. “He’s an outstanding employee who is dedicated to mission accomplishment each and every day.”

As part of the honor, a photo of Brown will be displayed with the other AMC Employee of the Quarter winners in the headquarters building.