The new face of the Army
Former Army CIO Susan Lawrence discusses the challenges her agency faces in modernizing its network systems and the future of women in the service.
Women of Washington – November 12, 2014
On this week’s Women of Washington radio show, retired General Susan Lawrence, former CIO of the Army and current senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, discusses the unique difficulties the Army faced in trying to modernize its network systems.
“It’s not like we could just stop, turn the network off, integrate the new technology and turn it back on. That was not an option,” General Lawrence told hosts Aileen Black and Gigi Schumm. “We knew that the budget was going down. We know that our force level is going to go down, and I’m absolutely convinced that technology can step in and close some of those gaps for our Army as we move forward.”
General Lawrence also weighed in on the integration of women into forward forces, saying she believes that all soldiers should be held to the same standard, regardless of their gender.
“This is just another example of, if they can do it, they should be allowed to do it…When our chief of staff came in, that was one of the first topics he took on. He said, ‘I was in combat with women who performed above and beyond, and they should be allowed to serve wherever they want to serve…And so we set the standard, you meet the standard, you should be allowed to do it,” General Lawrence said.
General Lawrence retired after a 20-year career in the Army, serving as both an enlisted soldier and a commissioned officer. She now works at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she hopes to have an impact on government IT procurement reform.
Also in this interview, General Lawrence discusses her biggest influences, including her grandfather, a World War II veteran.
“I remember going home one time when I was a Private First Class. And my grandfather, who was a medic in World War II, he looked at me and he says, ‘You’re going to be a Full Bird one day.’ And I said, ‘Grandpa, that’s a colonel.’ He says, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘No, I’m enlisted. I’m going to be a sergeant.’ So somehow, he had the vision as well.”
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