Photo By Joshua Free | Elizabeth Bledsoe receives the Project Manager Training Devices (PM TRADE) colors from...... read more read more
The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) transferred leadership responsibilities for Project Manager Training Devices (PM TRADE) from Col. Thomas R. Monaghan Jr. to Elizabeth Bledsoe during a change of charter ceremony on June 27 at Central Florida Tech Grove in Orlando, Florida.
Brig. Gen. Christine Beeler, Program Executive Officer or PEO STRI, served as the presiding officer for the ceremony and presented Monaghan with the Legion of Merit before the change of charter took place.
“This is an important level of award; this is our way of visually ascribing to you all the effort that you have done to make our Army better. It shows how instrumental your leadership has been over the last two years,” Beeler told Monaghan before presenting him with the award. “Your knowledge and understanding of the important role that training devices play in the lives of soldiers has enabled our organizations and our units to be ready and proficient in those tactical skills that will keep them alive and enable us to win.”
Bledsoe, a retired Army Lt. Col. with a 20-year career as a Signal Corps officer, became the 27th Project Manager for Training Devices during the ceremony, a military tradition that can be traced back to the Middle Ages. During the ceremony the PM TRADE colors were passed from outgoing project manager Monaghan to Bledsoe, signifying the symbolic and official transition and assumption of responsibilities.
“Liz, you are the first civilian to lead PM TRADE for the United States Army,” Beeler told the incoming project manager. “What’s important about that is the Army understands it's not about the uniform, it's about your ability to carry the organization forward and deliver product. You come with absolutely phenomenal credentials, delivering capability in electronic warfare and the Army cyber training environment and we look forward to having your leadership here.”
Bledsoe recently completed the 10-month Defense Acquisition University’s Senior Service College Fellowship program, an educational and leadership development initiative sponsored by the Office of the Army Director, Acquisition Career Management.
“I'm so honored to be selected as the next project manager for TRADE,” said Bledsoe. “PM TRADE is a dynamic program office that supports Army training and, therefore, the ability and capability to fight. The reps and sets in an operationally relevant environment drive the Soldiers' ability not only to get it right, but to never get it wrong. I want to deliver quality and timely training capabilities to create the most lethal and highly trained Army that history has ever seen and allow our military to dominate the battlefield. I have a team of all stars that can do it.”
Bledsoe began her Army career by deploying with the 11th Signal Brigade to Somalia and Haiti where she managed complex communication networks in challenging environments. She supported large-scale military operations in Germany with the 7th Signal Brigade and U.S. Army Europe before transitioning to the Army Acquisition Corps.
She served with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Army Human Resources Command and the Joint Program Executive Office Joint Tactical Radio Systems before retiring from active duty to become an Army civilian in 2012.
Bledsoe then joined the Cyber Acquisition office in the Assistant Secretary of the Army Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)) and her expertise in Army cyber acquisition led to her appointment as the Deputy Product Manager for Cyber Resiliency and Training at PEO STRI. She initiated the Persistent Cyber Training Environment program, providing a robust platform for training and preparing Army cyber forces.
From 2021 to 2024, Bledsoe served as the Product Manager for Electronic Warfare Integration under Project Manager Electronic Warfare and Cyber at the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors. Her leadership in this role was instrumental in advancing the Army’s electronic warfare capabilities and integrating cutting-edge technologies to counter emerging threats.
Monaghan became project manager of PM TRADE in July 2023 and will take on a new assignment at Fort Bragg, N.C.
“It has been an honor to serve as PM TRADE project manager,” said Monaghan. “We deliver and manage the army's integrated live and virtual training systems. We increase mobility, lethality, and survivability. Our time is limited to prepare, and Americans' families depend on us. That's why I am the way I am.
Monaghan said he expects perfection in how the Army trains, plans training, forecasts training, and executes training.
“And from my small fox hole here in Orlando, Florida, I strive to help the Army stay on track, and every member of PM TRADE was right there with me shoulder and shoulder over the past two years,” said Monaghan. “We're entrusted with the training and education of America's most precious resources, our sons and daughters. We build warfighters. We are, and will always be America's first PM. I'll see you all on next adventure.”
PEO STRI traces its roots as an organization to the formation of PM TRADE in December 1974, the Army’s first chartered project management office. PM TRADE was consolidated with the Army Training Device Agency in 1976 and moved to Orlando during the late 1980s. In August 1992, PM TRADE transitioned into the Army’s Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Command (STRICOM), which subsequently became PEO STRI in October 2002.
Today, PEO STRI is one of 12 program executive offices under ASA(ALT) and is the U.S. Army’s acquisition lead in delivering unmatched testing, training, and information operations to enhance operational readiness in support of national defense. The PEO STRI workforce is comprised of more than 1,000 highly skilled and diverse active duty, civilian, and contract personnel who work with high-caliber Army partners to enhance operational readiness and support the Army’s modernization efforts while accelerating today’s training to defeat tomorrow’s threats.
| Date Taken: | 06.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.30.2025 18:05 |
| Story ID: | 501944 |
| Location: | ORLANDO, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 170 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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