I had a nice conversation with one of our Navy Information Operations Command's officers recently. He said that his Skipper had begun calling him his "Director of Sailor Success". At first I thought perhaps they were reading too many business books or those Harvard Business Review book summaries. After hearing him out, it made more sense.
He explained...Along with their Command Master Chief, he was responsible for all training at the command. Together, they co-chaired the Planning Board For Training (PB4T). They set up the long range command schedule for a two year period year and reviewed it (along with the short range schedule) on a monthly basis. Their philosophy - "great plan, great training; good plan, good training; no plan, no training". They spent their time planning for and executing programs focused on Sailor success.
He continued..."At this command, we value training and that value is recognized. We keep it realistic and practical - no wasting our Sailors' time. Our training programs are monitored and evaluated. We are fortunate to have some real Master Training Specialists right out of the Center for Information Dominance (CID) Corry Station who have turned our training program upside down. Our Sailors thirst for knowledge. Believe it our not, some of our training sessions are "Standing Room Only." Everyone in the command participates in training and development - Seaman to CO - no exceptions. Our professional development programs are second to none! Our Sailors take this stuff seriously. Our Sailors qualify on time and they promote better than the average of the other NIOCs - at every paygrade. And it's especially nice to have a Chiefs Mess that is really the driving force behind the professional development of our Sailors. It's one of the keys to our success. We train for it."
3 comments:
A masterful work of fiction.
Why is this so hard to believe to be true? When the right people work the right mission and do the right things only great things happen. This may not be the norm everywhere and if it is not, then we only have ourselves to blame.
The Navy has a great idea with PB4T, and under the right leadership is can be executed brilliantly. The story here isn't far fetched. However, too many XOs and CMCs treat PB4T as a joke or a nuisance...and then they wonder why their Sailors are inexperienced.
Heck, our CMC barely shows up to PB4T...he demonstrates his care level about training with his actions. At least this command has an engaged CMC and XO. I'd be excited to work with them.
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