News

Ryan Rayno, DEVCOM Public Affairs

“I wouldn’t be where I’m at without my parents, especially my mother,” Lisa Holcomb, Management and Program Assistant Office Automation for U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, or DEVCOM, G3 – Operations, said.

“Growing up as a person with a hearing problem and other medical issues, there was a lot to overcome,” she said. “With putting me in speech therapy and learning how to lip read since I was two and getting me the proper tutors for school from fourth grade through high school, what my parents did for me contributed to my success in life and in my professional career.”

Holcomb, with the help of her mother, has worked for the federal government since 1987.

“I got my first job with the government because of my mother; I’m not exactly sure of the specifics, but she had heard about a hiring program for people with disabilities,” she said. “My mother helped me apply for a summer job at Aberdeen Proving Ground while I was going to Harford Community College. I put my application in and came on board May 27, 1987.”

Today, that federal hiring program is called Schedule A, which, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “is a hiring authority for federal agencies to use to tap into a diverse and vibrant talent pool without going through the often-lengthy traditional hiring process.”

While Schedule A does not guarantee a job, it does allow individuals to apply for a federal appointment through a noncompetitive hiring process.

Though she started working for the federal government in 1987, Holcomb has only worked for two different organizations.

“When I started for U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, I started as a test support clerk in the Test Operations and Policies Division in a building on Aberdeen Proving Ground that is no longer standing” she explained. “I’ve been through a lot of changes since I’ve been on this base.

“Being able to adapt to the various changes has been important for me: when I first came on board, I was using a typewriter and a rotary phone. Then of course computers came in soon after I started.”

“Being able to adapt to the various changes has been important for me: when I first came on board, I was using a typewriter and a rotary phone. Then of course computers came in soon after I started.”

After seventeen years of working for ATEC, Holcomb moved over to DEVCOM in 2005 when it was called U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.

Established in 2002, RDECOM was redesignated as U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command in 2019 and officially became a part of Army Futures Command.

Through all she’s experienced, Holcomb credits the multitude of changes in life to her success.

“Change is not one of my favorite things, but I adapted, persevered, and got through it,” she said. “So many changes have helped me learn many valuable lessons.

“Developing personal relationships is one of the key factors that has helped me be successful, because you have to be able to have the ability to help out and be a team player, but I think being able to hone your craft is equally important. I’ve always tried to live up to everybody saying, ‘go to Lisa, she knows everything.’”

Being the DEVCOM resident expert is something Holcomb takes great pride in and can easily be seen by her supervisor, Mark Michels, DBA, the director of DEVCOM G3.

“I can say without a doubt, she has been one of the most influential people in the G3 office,” he said. “Lisa sees and knows all the nuances that go into working in this office, and she is on it every single day. She is 100% an enabler to the success of G3: the common answer I get to a question about internal processes is, ‘I don’t know, but Lisa would know.’”

“I can say without a doubt, she has been one of the most influential people in the G3 office,” he said. “Lisa sees and knows all the nuances that go into working in this office, and she is on it every single day. She is 100% an enabler to the success of G3: the common answer I get to a question about internal processes is, ‘I don’t know, but Lisa would know.’”

Michels understands why people would say that about Lisa.

“When I ask her questions, she already knows where I’m going with them,” Michels explained. “She would say, ‘I understand where you’re going with this and why, but these are the roadblocks that we have to overcome.’

“You never have to worry about her not getting the information that we need, and if she has any doubt whatsoever, she will do research, she will talk to a subject matter expert, she will read a myriad of documentation; she will find the answer that you seek.”

Despite over 35 years of federal civil service, Holcomb has no plans to retire anytime soon.

“I haven’t given retirement much thought even though most of the people I came on board with here in 2005 have retired,” she said.

“My favorite part about working for DEVCOM is interacting with the people. I get to meet so many different people across all the staff sections on a face-to-face basis, and working with everyone that comes through G3 is really enjoyable. I’m just having too much fun to hang it up.”

Michels doesn’t doubt that Holcomb is having too much fun to consider retiring, and until she does, he’s going to rely on her expertise.

“She loves her job, and she loves the people she works with,” he said. “I know that she will never steer me wrong, and I like to joke when asked how things are going, ‘I don’t do anything unless Lisa says I can do it.’”

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The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, is home to thousands of Army scientists, engineers, technicians and analysts working around the globe to leverage cutting-edge technologies and empower the American warfighter with the data and abilities to see, sense, make decisions and act faster than our adversaries – today and in the future.

As part of Army Futures Command, DEVCOM takes calculated risks to find new technological solutions each day. Our experts drive innovation, improve existing technologies and engineer solutions to technical challenges. Our work goes beyond theory to simulation and prototyping. We take potential science and technology solutions from the lab “into the dirt” for experimentation alongside Army Soldiers. DEVCOM prides itself as a global ecosystem of innovators, from world-class universities and large defense contractors, to small, minority-owned businesses and international allies and partners.