Photo By Wiley Robinson | Family photo at Hancock’s promotion to major ceremony at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama,...... read more read more
Subscribe
Maj. Timothy Hancock
COMMAND/ORGANIZATION: U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center, Director, Acquisition Career Management, Proponency and Analysis
TITLE: 51A proponency officer
YEARS OF SERVICE IN AAW: 7
MILITARY OR CIVILIAN: Military
YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE: 15
DAWIA CERTIFICATIONS: Practitioner in program management
EDUCATION: MBA with a concentration in engineering management, University of Alabama, Huntsville; B.S. in business administration, Tuskegee University
AWARDS: 3x Meritorious Service Medal (2024)
HONE YOUR CRAFT
by Cheryl Marino
In both his career and personal life, Maj. Timothy Hancock carries a simple philosophy: always make the best of every circumstance. Since no one truly knows the struggles another person may be facing, whether at work or in their personal life, he believes that kindness and encouragement can go a long way. Even the smallest uplifting moment can ease someone’s burden, spark a sense of hope and completely change the course of their day. It’s about choosing to leave people better than you found them, one interaction at a time.
“Have fun and understand that your current mission is bigger than yourself—ultimately, we support the warfighter and we ensure that they remain the best equipped force in the world,” he explained. “How do you apply it in your work? There is a time and place for everything but try to make the best of every situation. Sometimes our job can be overwhelming—couple that with potential situations in our personal life—having lighthearted moments can be the boost that a person needs to get through the day, week or month.”
Hancock serves as a 51A proponency officer with a focus on recruiting efforts and leading the structure and manning decision review for the Director, Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office, within the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center. His goal is attracting and retaining skilled personnel into the Army Acquisition Workforce (AAW) including officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs)—achieved through routine communication and providing career development advice to Soldiers and advising the DACM in establishing personnel management policies to attract, develop, educate and retain acquisition officers and NCOs to support the total force.
“Army acquisition is always looking to grow the workforce with quality professionals for the continued success of the Acquisition Corps,” he said. “Without acquisitions, the U.S. Army would not be the best-equipped force the world has known and we are doing everything we can to provide our Soldiers with the equipment and services they need for mission success.”
Above all, Hancock’s greatest reward in being a part of the AAW is spreading the world of acquisitions to fellow Soldiers who never knew what it was prior to being told. “We can’t do this job forever as much as we want to, so bringing in great people is paramount,” he said. “Everyone that comes in brings something different to the fight that is beneficial to the overall acquisition workforce.”
Hancock learned of the AAW after his first deployment to Afghanistan. “I was 2nd Lieutenant working in the S3 shop [operations and training] that coordinated VIP travel throughout the different regional commands [RCs]. One day a major came by our shop and asked to travel to the different RCs with the goal of establishing a dedicated intel platform to help mitigate certain threats in the area. This major was an acquisition officer and his duties inspired me to transfer from military intelligence to acquisitions and I haven’t looked back!”
His first acquisition assignment was at Aberdeen Proving Ground serving as an assistant program manager for the Army/Navy Transportable Pulse-modulated Radar (AN/TPQ) or Q-50 radar, followed by the Q-53 radar. Both mobile radar systems serve different purposes: The Q-50 is a lightweight, counter mortar radar that is more accurate and has greater range than previous models, with the ability to detect and locate indirect fire. And the Q-53 is a counterfire radar designed to detect, classify and track projectiles from mortars, artillery and rockets, providing target location for counterfire.
In both assignments, Hancock played a crucial role in the life cycle management of these defense systems from project coordination and budgetary oversight to strategic planning, team leadership, stakeholder management and technical expertise. As well as the overall management and delivery of this critical counterfire radar system.
“The product office was amazing in welcoming me to the world of acquisitions and helped me understand the acquisition process that the schoolhouse can’t provide,” Hancock explained. “During this time I also had the opportunity to deploy to Iraq and Syria to support C-UAS [Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System] operations; seeing my product being used firsthand and actively saving lives was a surreal moment. While traversing the battlefield and incident was set to occur but was negated because of the radars.”
Hancock said one of his goals in joining the AAW was to learn the Army from a human resource perspective and “how we support the Army and the acquisition workforce in achieving their requirements and goals.” Another was to complete all requisite professional military education. “I have personal goals that I’m still working and will probably carry me through my lifetime,” he added.
Hancock said he’s met some truly amazing people in the acquisition workforce. Some of which have become mentors that provide invaluable feedback for both personal and professional matters. “These lifelong relationships have instilled values within me, that hopefully, I can pass along to others.”
Prior to joining the DACM Office, Hancock gained a year of valuable work experience with the 3M Company, through the Training With Industry (TWI) career development program (completed in July 2025), an experience he would recommend to every officer and NCO.
“This experience allows them to take off the uniform and integrate with our industry counterparts,” he said. “One thing that was reinforced throughout the experience was maintaining a proper work-life balance. The team that I was on worked hard but made sure to take time for themselves when they could. This prevented the team from burning out or becoming frustrated with leadership if they were mandated to work a certain amount of hours each week. As long as the mission was accomplished, company leadership did not care when or where they worked.”
“To see how industry operates on a daily basis and interacts with the government and competes with fellow industry members was enlightening,” said Hancock. “The program showed me all the daily interactions between the government and industry. Both lines of communication need to be improved as one may think they are not responsive enough to the others liking.”
Hancock also recommends that junior personnel “become a sponge” and soak up as much knowledge as they can from the senior acquisition professionals that are currently on the ground. “Continue to study and hone your craft so you are able to confidently speak the language and understand what is being said in the meetings.” And find a mentor. “Latch on to a valued member within the organization that has been there for some time and pick their brain. Also, don’t stop learning. The battlefield is constantly evolving and we must remain competent in our craft to meet that change.”
Outside of work, Hancock is known in and around his church, Refuge Temple in God in Christ, as a pastor’s adjutant assisting before, during and after sermons. He is also a deacon, working on becoming a minister. When he’s not at church, Hancock coaches his daughter’s softball team, enjoys golfing with his son, and he is passionate about working on automobiles and circuit racing. The commonality between his hobbies and his work, he said, is simply “teamwork.”
“If you want to be successful in the acquisition business and some of these activities, it requires being a good teammate.”
| Date Taken: | 09.23.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2025 10:58 |
| Story ID: | 549970 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 5 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, HONE YOUR CRAFT, by Wiley Robinson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
