The Oracle - United States ArmyLTC Carter J. Halfman – XVIII Airborne Corps – Chief, Force...

The

Oracle I N T H I S I S S U E : - D S T - S M I N F O R C E M A N A G E M E N T - F R O M T H E E X E C A G E N T - D U E L I N G P E R S P E C T I V E S O N T H E F M C U R R I C U L U M A T C G S C - R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E K E L L O G G F E L L O W S H I P - S P O T L I G H T A C R O S S T H E F O R C E - B R O A D E N I N G P R O G R A M I N F O - H R C & P D O U P D A T E S - I N S T I T U T I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L C H A N G E I N U S A R M Y E U R O P E D U R I N G T H E C O V I D - 1 9 P A N D E M I C

“ …force managers must be able to visualize current and

future demand for modernization efforts and

leverage that information to provide decision space to

senior leaders…” DST-SM in Force Management

by MAJ William Samuel

“ C O N S U M E D W I T H E X C I T E M E N T , I

A R R I V E D A T K E L L O G G I N J U L Y 2 0 1 9 , M O T I V A T E D T O M A K E T H E

B E S T O F T H I S O N C E I N A L I F E T I M E O P P O R T U N I T Y … H O W

W O U L D I E X P L O I T T H E I N I T I A T I V E A N D C R E A T E A

R E L A T I V E A D V A N T A G E ? H O W W O U L D I B E M O S T I M P A C T F U L W H I L E A D D I N G A N D C R E A T I N G V A L U E F O R M Y S E L F , T H E A R M Y A N D T H E K E L L O G G S C H O O L O F

M A N A G E M E N T ? ”

The Kellogg Fellowship by COL Eric Hoggard

“U.S. ARMY EUROPE COVID-19 RESPONSE DEMANDED FASTER, REAL-TIME DECISION

MAKING AND ACTION; JABBER CHAT HELPED ANSWER THIS DEMAND…THIS GREATLY

ENHANCED CROSS-TALK, DISSEMINATION OF REQUIREMENTS AND ENABLED GROUP

COLLABORATION TO SOLVE CRITICAL COVID-19 RELATED PROBLEMS IN THE EUROPEAN

THEATER.”

Instituting Organizational Change in U.S. Army Europe during the COVID-

19 Pandemic

To the Force Management Community,

First, I want to thank MAJ Cait Smith and MAJ Sergio Loynaz for re-invigorating your professional

development periodical. Their efforts to reinforce a learning culture across the Functional Area will

hopefully drive both professional development and a greater sense of community.

I sincerely appreciate your initiative and resilience over the last quarter to continue the vital work of

managing change while dealing with the effects of a pandemic. I have a few updates, some lessons learned

and some well-deserved recognition to provide you. The COVID-19 pandemic has exercised Army processes

and tested our force in ways we haven't seen during most of our careers. I encourage each of you to codify

the lessons learned and best practices you developed and share those through The Oracle or on the FA50

milSuite page. Let us capture this knowledge now & not allow time to degrade our memories; we owe it to

our profession. Appropriately, this quarter's Oracle includes USAREUR's lessons learned during the

pandemic and how they employed teleconference, video conference, and chat to improve communication.

The next How the Army Runs / FA50 Q Course (02-20) begins on 29 June. Working with the Army

Force Management School, HRC, ARNG and OCAR, and based on guidance informed by TRADOC, we

decided to continue both courses as a blended / virtual learning environment. This is an important shaping

time for a brand new FA50, and I will encourage their current commands to provide students the freedom

to execute the course as their full time job.

The Proponent is piloting a battery of different assessments with Army Research Institute to evaluate

how well these assessments predict job performance as Force Managers. This initiative, part of the Army’s

Talent Management effort, involves administering assessments to Force Managers of all components with

6-24 months of job experience. In addition we will collect confidential, off the record performance ratings

from first line supervisors. With your support, the results of this research effort will ensure that the

Proponent is using the correct assessments to predict which individuals are the most highly qualified to

become successful FA50 Officers. I encourage you to take the time to complete the survey, if included in the

study.

From a lessons learned perspective, the 20-02 Movement Cycle for the Regular Army presented a

learning curve across the Officer Corps as Officers and units began to better understand the Assignment

Integrated Marketplace (AIM). The FA50 market, not unlike most others, dealt with quite a bit of

turbulence as the dynamic marketplace progressed. At the onset, over 85 requisitions were requested

FROM THE EXECUTIVE AGENT

with only 65 Officers available to fill those jobs. As the market continued, several events -- retirements,

broadening programs, and change to Army priorities and structure -- occurred that impacted the number of

Officers and jobs in the market. In response, and to mitigate proponent driven turbulence, we shifted the

selection timeframe for FA50 specific broadening opportunities to August.

Once the dust settled on the market, we were left with 50 Officers available to move aligned to

positions prioritized against the Active Component Manning Guidance. This resulted in a few of our new

VTIP Officers being slated to Divisional Force Manager “1-of-1” jobs. This occurred exclusively when those

jobs were not preferenced and the remaining Officers were not preferenced high by other units. While this

occurrence was not unique to the 20-02 market, it is not ideal or consistent with DA PAM 600-3. In

response, we will provide the FA50 Career Manager with Proponent Assignment Guidance aligned to the

new FA50 chapter of DA PAM 600-3 to help set the market, enable market changes and minimize future

occurrences. In addition we plan to initiate a mentorship plan targeted to officers in operational "1-of-1"

positions.

The results of the 20-02 market did demonstrate some positive results with 81% of Officers receiving

an assignment they preferenced within their top 10 (53% 1-to-1 match, 10% 2nd/3rd choice, 18% 4th-10th

choice). Only 2 Officers were diverted post-slating to fill higher Army priorities and 9 Officers received jobs

that were either outside of the market or preferenced outside of their top 10.

I thank you for the patience you've shown as the

pandemic has upended many of your summer permanent

changes of station, professional military education, or

other personal and professional activities. Please rest

assured all are working diligently to ensure that your

individual situations are adjudicated appropriately

while adhering to guidance from the

Department of the Army.

I encourage each of you to maintain an active dialogue with your Career Manager and the FA50 Personnel

Development Office who close out this edition with updates from their perspective.


On the good news front, we executed the first iteration of the FA50 Key Nominative Billet Selection Panel

for the Regular Army. This panel selected the best qualified LTCs and COLs for key and strategic positions across

the force management enterprise. I want to congratulate the following officers for selection:

COL Principals List and Slating:

COL Daniel M. Zerby – ARCYBER, G8 (activated)

COL Michael S. Tokar – HQDA G-3/5/7, FMF

COL Alternates: COL Mike Hall, COL Peter J. Rasmussen

LTC Principals List and Slating:

LTC Benjamin K. Bennett - HQDA G8 – Team Chief, Maneuver (FDD)

LTC Cory J. Cousins – ARCENT – Chief, Structure

LTC Carter J. Halfman – XVIII Airborne Corps – Chief, Force Management

LTC Jessica F. Hegenbart – HQDA G-3/5/7 – Chief, Force Programs (FMF)

LTC Robert C. McVay - HQDA G8 - Chief, Programs & Priority (FDR)

MAJ(P) Yong Yi - USARPAC - Chief, Integration

LTC Alternates: LTC Humberto A. Alvarez, LTC Timothy N. Bible, LTC Alexander J. Musel, LTC Dat T. Nguyen, LTC Adam M. Winograd, LTC Kenneth T. Woods

Finally, we are re-opening up nominations for the Force Management Hall of Fame to identify deserving

Civilians and Reserve Component Officers. Nominations are submitted as a memorandum with detailed

justification of the nominee, military or civilian, living or otherwise, who have made a significant, recognizable and

lasting contribution to Army FM. Nominees must have been out of federal service for two years. A "significant

contribution" is characterized by actions above and beyond expected duty performance that materially enhance the

practice of Army Force Management or benefits the FM Community. It may take the form of a single significant

act or, more likely, it can be the result of a career of dedicated service. Attainment of high rank does not itself

constitute a significant FM contribution. Please submit those nominations NLT 15 July to COL Jimmy Blain

([email protected]) and his replacement, LTC Latrice Clark ([email protected]).

MG Erik Peterson MG Erik Peterson

Director of Force Development FA50 Executive Agent


mailto:[email protected]


5 The Oracle, 3QFY20

We must maintain readines in the force, even as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our daily routines and schedules

prompting us to telework, exercise social distancing, and use alternative methods to accomplish tasks. To that end, the

Army is not slowing its plans to field the most modern

capabilities to our formations.1 Whether we are in a pandemic

or not, adjustments to fielding schedules are inevitable.

Therefore, force managers must be able to visualize current

and future demand for modernization efforts and leverage

that information to provide decision space to commanders

and senior leaders. DST-SM is the authoritative tool force

managers use to visualize demand, operationalize

modernization, and integrate new capabilities into our

formations.

DST-SM is the Army's system of record for the synchronization of equipment distribution and redistribution. DST-SM is

linked to demand sources to optimize the equipping process based on Army priorities; the system allows users to visualize

demand signals for modernization, track inventory, vet proposed sourcing decisions (PSDs), and view a common operating

picture of modernization efforts over time. A comprehensive review of PSDs is conducted bi-annually at the Army

Modernization and Equipping Conference (AMEC), where each

The Army Force Management Model


command reviews fielding plans to resolve friction points and synchronize distribution and displacement

decisions within a unit’s modernization window. DST-SM – as an enterprise system – and the AMEC – as an

enterprise conference – are essential to achieving horizontal and vertical integration of equipment

modernization throughout the Army.

Last spring, I had the opportunity to work with COL

James Blain and MAJ Mark Witte on the FA50

Qualification Course Survey.2 One of the trending

comments we saw in the survey was students

wanted more hands-on experience with the

enterprise systems used by force managers.

Additionally, there were trending comments from

students who wanted to understand more about

force management at the division level and in 1-of-1

assignments. To fill the first gap, I taught a 2-hour

block of instruction on DST-SM to students attending the FA50 Qualification Course in March 2019. The block

of instruction included an overview of DST, proposed sourcing decision vetting, and culminated with a practical

exercise. For the practical exercise, each group was assigned a division headquarters and was tasked to use

DST to review the division’s modernization events for the current quarter and provide a back-brief of those

events to the class. The exercise was designed for students to gain experience with the system and analyze the

modernization events, similar to what force managers in 1-of-1 assignments provide their commands in the

field. The feedback for the block of instruction was largely positive. However, some students did note some

challenges they have experienced in the field with DST-SM. The preponderence of frustration and discussion

centered on the human failability of the system, namely that some Program Managers are not inputting

equipment fielding information into DST-SM which could potentially lead to “drive by” equipment fieldings. In

some cases, there are new capabilities scheduled to be fielded outside the DST-SM system. There is an ongoing

effort to resolve this issue at the enterprise level. However, with the majority of NET/NEF events in DST-SM,

the system captures most modernization events and provides a common operating picture for units to view

their current and future modernization events up to 24 months out.

Modernization will continue demand our attention and time; force managers must continue to integrate new

capabilities into our formations. Leveraging the tools to achieve horizontal and vertical integration effectively

is directly linked to our knowledge of DST-SM and understanding how those systems enable force managers to

A screenshot from the DST-SM system


operationalize modernization. As modernization continues to be a priority for the Army, managing

modernization events using enterprise systems which provide a common operating picture is essential to

integrate new capabilities into our formations.

Sources:

1 Judson, J. (2020, April 10). Pandemic not slowing Army plans to field enduring indirect fires protection capability. Retrieved from Defense News:

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/04/10/pandemic-not-slowing-down-army-plans-to-field-enduring-indirect-fires-protection-capability/

2 Blain, James; Witte, Mark; Samuel, William and Bradford, Angela. Force management Qualification Course Assessment. August 2019.

https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/2019-fa50-qualification-course-assessment/content.

Author Information: MAJ William “Sam” Samuel is a Force Integration Officer at Headquarters, Department of the Army G-3/5/7 Force Management,

Force Integration Division (DAMO-FMD). Commissioned as a Transportation Officer in 2008, he transitioned to Force Management in 2016 and his

first FA50 assignment was at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, as a Force Integration Officer for 8th Theater Sustainment Command. MAJ Samuel has a Bachelor’s

Degree in Information Systems from the University of South Carolina and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Norwich University. He is

married to MAJ Lashanna Samuel, also a Force Management Officer, assigned to HQDA G-8 Force Development.

THE ORACLE IS THE QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE U.S. ARMY’S FORCE

MANAGEMENT (FM) COMMUNITY. ITS PURPOSE IS TO DISCUSS FM SPECIFIC

TOPICS, EXCHANGE IDEAS, AND INFORM OUR COMMUNITY ACROSS THE GLOBE.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL MATERIAL FOR PUBLICATION TO

MAJORS CATHERINE SMITH AND SERGIO LOYNAZ AT

[email protected] AND

[email protected]

The information in The Oracle represents the professional opinions of the authors and does not imply any

official Army positions, nor does it change any official Army publications or policies.

Questions and comments are welcomed and encouraged. Please comment on the FA50 milSuite to begin

a dialogue.



https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/fa50


Major Jason Cumiford, 7 ID

Major undertakings at 7 ID: “ICW I Corps FM, we developed major modernization binning

windows in the lead up to the Fall 2019 Army Synchronization and Resourcing Conference. This

enabled us to identify 6-12 month windows immediately following a unit's Combat Training

Center rotation or USINDOPAC missions where it can receive all programmed modernization to

ensure units can focus on modernization for a specified time period, then shift focus to training. I further developed

minor modernization binning windows spanning 6-8 weeks in duration enabling units to modernize smaller capabilities

to further help reduce friction and enable units to focus on training. This enables all echelons to focus modernization

efforts into targeted windows helping to reduce required planning and, in the case of COVID-19, quickly identify follow-

on fielding timelines a unit is available to field the Army's latest capabilities.”

Major Dwayne Bowden, U.S. Army North

Major undertakings at ARNORTH: “Overall, I'm doing what every Force Management officer does

in every organization in which they serve – trying to solve complex problems in bite-sized

chunks by using the established processes outlined in the How the Army Runs manual. Specifically,

I'm focused on ARNORTH's force integration needs. The prevalent actions include

1) a communications project which seeks to modernize the commercial off the shelf (COTS) fleet of command post vehicles

used by our HQs and Defense Coordinating Elements (DCEs); 2) equipping solutions to support our staff, DCEs and

Southwest Border (SWB) rotational force as they perform their Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) and

Homeland Defense (HD) missions; and 3) NEF/NET coordination for ARNORTH, as well as for tenant organizations we

support. ARNORTH's role as the JFLCC for the COVID-19 pandemic response has opened many eyes to the mechanisms

in place for disaster response in the Homeland. The future of Force Management at ARNORTH will entail continually

working to make typical ASCC solutions fit ARNORTH's fairly atypical missions and using a many-flavored manpower

solutions to balance emerging requirements in a zero-growth environment. ”

Captain Jon Fuller, U.S. Army Europe

From the Force Management foxhole at USAREUR: “My primary responsibilities revolve around

the management of both the Equipment Review & Validation Board (ERVB) process and Change

Management Plan (CMP) submissions. Part of my duties require continuous interactions with

subordinate units to better understand their unique requirements here in theater. I then help articulate those requests

before final submission of either a 4610R or CMP. Lastly, I conduct thorough analysis of changes to unit mission

directives, workload, and modernization requirements before submitting ERVB and CMP requests to HQDA. The

future of these efforts will help to change the documentation of our units to meet emerging mission requirements. In

our current resource constrained environment, my job ensures USAREUR continues to be a good steward of Army

resources.”


The Fellowship Objective

Each year the Army selects a small number of colonels to serve as

U.S. Army Senior Fellows. The program objective as written in AR 627-1

states, “the fellowship provides select senior officers the opportunity to

develop professional networks, engage civilian counterparts and

appreciate the techniques used outside the Department of Defense (DOD) to articulate issues and influence

strategic solutions at the federal level.” All of these are great objectives for an intellectually engaging learning

experience. Notably, this incredible opportunity intentionally excludes the familiar standard operating procedures

an Army officer is accustomed to receiving upon arrival to a new duty position. Additionally, the Senior Fellows’

deliverables are not prescribed. This is done purposefully to inspire creativity, networking, strategic thought, and

a growth mindset.


The Discovery

Consumed with excitement, I arrived at Kellogg in

July 2019, motivated to make the best of this once in a

lifetime opportunity. I was confident that my

military and corporate skillsets provided a solid

foundation for this unique experience. After

concluding there would be no prescribed fellowship

roadmap to follow, no set meetings to fill up my

calendar, no staff members to lead, and no weekly

Army engagements, I refocused my expectations and

personalized my goals for this fellowship. How

would I exploit the initiative and create a relative

advantage? How would I be most impactful while

adding and creating value for myself, the Army, and

the Kellogg School of Management?

Eager to understand the fellowship operating picture,

I contacted numerous former Kellogg Fellows to

solicit their advice and recommendations. The

feedback and perspectives provided were both

invaluable and insightful. One piece of advice was

extremely beneficial: establish three to four goals,

stick to them, and let them drive my projects and

priorities. Methodically, I worked to ensure that 90%

of my actions were synchronized with my goals and

remained unchanged during my tenure. I included

the goals and progress updates in my monthly

Significant Events Reports that were sent to the U.S.

Army War College and Force Management Senior

Leaders. My goals were as follows:

Serve as an ambassador for the U.S. Army focused on

fostering a greater understanding of the Army,

deepening relationships, and collaborating in areas of

mutual interest.

Expand components of personal leadership style to

include my behaviors, values, and beliefs to create real

enduring change.

Continue to build and strengthen the rich traditions of

FA50 contributions during the Kellogg Fellowship.

Complete the Kellogg Executive Scholars Program.

Identify executive level education opportunities for

Army Senior Leaders.

Research topic: “Fifth Generation Headquarters”-Army

Futures Command (AFC )Research Topic #10.

Next, in order to meet my goals, I networked with the

Kellogg faculty, industry partners, local ROTC

programs, and the newly established Army

Marketing Department. I also met regularly with my

Kellogg advisors to select Executive Education

Courses.

What I Learned

My first lesson learned at Kellogg was that you must

not underestimate the value of networking. Whenever

my Kellogg advisors were unable to address my

concerns, there was always an immediate offer to

introduce me to an expert who could answer my

questions. They capitalized on the power of their

networks to my benefit and I am eternally grateful.

Kellogg purposefully promotes diversity, attracting

leaders from around the world. Learning, studying

and exchanging perspectives with my illustrious

colleagues was inspiring. Together we debated and

discussed leadership styles, marketing trends, design

thinking, and artificial intelligence – just to name a

few. My network exponentially increased. These

special encounters have changed me for the better and

provide the Army at large with contacts across a

diverse range of specialities.

It was an honor to share the Army story with business

leaders, academics, and industry partners. All

expressed genuine respect and gratitude for the

mission and security provided to our great country.

One of the most rewarding experiences was escorting

a cohort of Kellogg faculty to Fort Benning, GA. MG

Gary Bito’s staff were excellent hosts. This

opportunity helped bridge the civil-military divide

and provided concrete context, grounding future

academic discussions about the military.

The Kellogg School of Management. Credit: Northwestern University.


I also capitalized on Kellogg’s extensive network by

participating in the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and The

Business Executives on National Security. I was unaware of the

significant influence that our think tanks, business leaders,

Army labs, and defense partners contribute to shaping our

national security efforts.

My second lesson from Kellogg is best summarized by a

quote from Sir Francis Bacon, “Reading makes a full man,

conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” Leaders

often wish they had more time to read. Fortunately, at

Kellogg each class came with an assortment of complimentary

reading material and I made it a goal to read everything. Leo

Tolstoy authored one of my favorite readings, a short story

entitled How Much Land Does a Man Need. From a

leadership perspective, it forced me to reflect on the

importance of genuine humility, a principle of leadership

intended to help even the most fastidious expert retain

perspective. It also forced me to examine the importance of

balance across all facets of life. When is too much a bad thing?

The verdict is still out on that one.

My third lesson from Kellogg relates to the art of storytelling

and how it affects the leadership journey. A person’s life

story, comprised of millions of memories and experiences,

intuitively shapes their world view and leadership style. My

professor introduced them as “Big ‘S’” and “Little ‘s’” stories.

My favorite example was that of Howard Schultz, the former

CEO of Starbucks. His “Little ‘s’” story truly shaped his “Big

‘S’” story. The “Little ‘s’” story begins with Schultz’s father

losing his job and all his benefits, leaving the family destitute

and without health insurance. This burden weighed on

Schultz for years and shaped his decision to offer extensive

and comprehensive employee benefits packages during his

“Big ‘S’” story time as Starbucks’ CEO. Reflecting on these

concepts allowed me to understand what events in my own

life shaped my leadership style and what I wanted to adjust

moving forward.

The So What

Despite the interference of the COVID-19 pandemic, my

fellowship objectives were completed in April and I continue

to pursue online certificates and research. I am a transformed

leader, confident and eager to shape strategic solutions with

our industry partners and defense networks in my upcoming

relocation to the Pentagon. As I transition from the university

environment, I look back and appreciate the many lessons

learned. The Kellogg experience has been truly impactful and

inspiring, both personally and professionally.

I will miss the academic lectures, technology,

business networks – and yes, even the arts—but I

am eager to apply my new and improved skills in

the next chapter of my own Army story.

______________________________

Author Information: COL Eric Hoggard is a native of

Norfolk, VA. He entered the United States Army

Reserve from Virginia Commonwealth University on a

ROTC scholarship in 1989. Before his selection to the

Active Guard Reserve Program (AGR) in 2003, COL

Hoggard worked in the Commercial Construction

industry as a Superintendent and Project Manager.

COL Hoggard transitioned from AGR to Active Duty

in 2010. COL Hoggard has served in key Force

Management assignments within the Department of

the Army and has served in CSL Billets at the LTC

and COL levels. He is currently a Senior Army Fellow

at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of

Management.


A Layman’s Perspective on the Force Management

Curriculum at Command and General Staff College

Major Jeffrey Gaines, AV (AH-64, Apache aviator)

Every Command and General Staff College (CGSC) student remembers the complex,

intricate Army Force Management Model and how it complimented the Army processes within

the convoluted “purple pipeline” as taught during the F100 Force Management class. However, if

they are anything like me, that’s all they remember about it. Force Management obviously serves

a critical role in our evolving and

rapidly changing Army and it is

crucial that our field grade

leaders understand what the

functional area brings to the

fight. However, the current

program of instruction (POI)

places high emphasis on rote

memorization of seemingly

endless acronyms and a deep

understanding of a process with which most officers will likely only tangentially interact.

Currently, the Force Management POI reads like an entry-level indoctrination course for

new recruits of the functional area. Unfortunately, there is no practical instruction to teach

students processes like Requests for Forces, Operational Needs Statements (ONS), New

Equipment Fielding and Training (NEF/NET), unit transformations, and Total Army Analysis

(TAA) growth submissions. These are the skills that the field grade leader will require as they will

almost inevitably serve at a division or corps level headquarters soon after CGSC graduation.

Understanding the overarching force management processes is important, but basic branch

officers have a larger requirement to understand the practical application of force management

and how to use it to affect change at the corps and division (and lower) levels.

The Army Force Management Model as taught at Command and General Staff College


CGSC graduates will likely find themselves

operating at the battalion, brigade, and

division levels for the preponderance of their

field grade years. As officers assume key

and developmental positions at these

echelons, the Force Management Model’s

interplay with the “purple pipeline” fades

into irrelevance. As an operations officer or

executive officer, it is very likely that one’s

only interaction with the Force Management

functional area will be attempting to submit an ONS or participate in a NEF/NET. He or she will

accomplish this through a very unfamiliar process and by working through a good bit of discovery

learning. Because of this I recommend changing the CGSC curriculum so that instead of a written

assignment that walks a requirement from validation through to fielding, students learn how to

submit requirements from the tactical level to the highest echelon they would be responsible for

working with (likely a division headquarters). Staffing such a requirement above the division

level is FA50 business that basic branch officers will not participate in.

The tools the Force Management functional area provides are immense and the dedicated

professionals of the functional area strive to improve the Army and meet the needs of the

warfighter. Undeniably, they serve valuable function which CGSC students must understand.

However, this instruction should be tailored to its audience and focused on the needs of the basic

branch field grade operating at echelons below the corps level.

______________________________________

Author Information: Major Jeff Gaines is an AH-64 Apache aviator with more than 15 years of

flight experience in both rotary and fixed wing aircraft. He currently serves as the Executive

Officer for 1-227 Aviation (FWD). He is married to the incomparably lovely and kind Kara

O’Sullivan Gaines. They live in Georgetown, Texas, with their small army of canines.

The ‘Purple Pipeline’ as taught at Command and General Staff College


In order to address criticisms of the F100 (Force Management) block of instruction taught at the U.S. Army

Command and General Staff College (CGSC), LTC Ken Woods answers questions about developing and

amending the block of instruction, engaging with CGSC students about Force Management, and where

instruction at CGSC is headed in the future. Interviewed by MAJ Catherine Smith.

Question 1: Please provide some background and context for how you begin framing the Force

Management curriculum at CGSC.

LTC Woods: LTG Rainey, the Combined Arms Center Commander, has stressed that CGSC should

seek to make good professional stewards of its students. For most officers, CGSC is the first

formal instruction they will receive on Force Management and is also their final professional

military education (PME) experience. Getting the education right means that field grades across

the force will be able to coordinate with the force management community and get things done.

Getting things wrong will reinforce a perception that officers across the force have few tools

available to influence the development of the Army. This education can equip officers to

transition from good stewards of their units to good stewards of their profession.

Question 2: Please describe your duties as a curriculum developer and instructor at CGSC.

LTC Woods: CGSC is an incredibly important educational experience because it marks officer

passage from the company grade to the field grade. Until this point in their career, the officers

have been focused on platoons, companies, and occasionally battalions or brigades. As field grade

Less-than-20 Questions with LTC Ken Woods, Command and General Staff

College Curriculum Developer & Instructor for Force Management


officers, they will be more than caretakers and leaders of their units. They will also be stewards

and leaders of their profession. CGSC has determined that students require some amount of force

management instruction to enable that transition.

I am responsible for developing an educational system of force management for all Army

captains, majors, and lieutenant colonels going through the Command and General Staff College

(CGSC). Based on leadership’s guidance, I develop an overall plan for lesson content and flow

before tasking lesson authors to develop the individual lessons. My job is to develop lesson

author guidance, monitor the development, ensure all of the pieces fit together to make a whole,

and coordinate the faculty (largely active or retired logistics officers). There are several

overarching documents that I use to guide this. The two most important are the course

management plan (communicates the vision) and the assessment plan (measures the

effectiveness).

While I am mostly here to develop the curriculum, my favorite part is teaching. The young

officers we have are truly excellent. I really cherish the opportunity to coach and mentor. I try

never to pass an opportunity to grow the next generation.

Question 3: What considerations do you need to weigh when developing new curricula or

changing existing/approved POIs?

LTC Woods: There are two concern areas I focus on during curriculum development.

First, the level of detail. The things that students need to know are not the same things

that instructors need to know. We are in a constant struggle to keep details down to an

appropriate level for our students.

Our instructors are intelligent and driven. We quickly teach new instructors some force

management, ask them to read more, and then require them to teach it. They quickly learn

enough to get through the lessons. Sometimes this means that they are eager to show all that

they know. Sometimes it means that they stick closely to a script. Either of these methods can

lead them to sharing specific details without necessarily intellectually exploring the topic. As

instructors gain experience, they also gain depth of knowledge. In time, quite a lot. This can lead

to an emotional need to demonstrate their expertise. Again, this is missing the point.

Both new and experienced instructors should seek to help students explore the topics. We

want students to be able to think through the problems that force management attempts to solve.

When they get to a force management problem, they will not know the process from our short

series of lessons, but we can arm them with tools for how to think through a solution.


Second, relevancy. The great issue here is convincing students that force management is

something that they need. These students have seen the Army and force management isn’t it.

They take force management lessons and make comments like “I’ll never use this. This is

something only FA50s and logistics officers do” (because our faculty is logistics). A quick FMSWeb

pull can show how

officer authorizations

are divided between

the operating and

generating force. The

students at CGSC

generally don’t

understand the

demographic shift that

they will live in the

remainder of their

career. Consider the

embedded graphic,

which breaks down

11A, 90A, and 50A by

COMPO

and operating & generating force tranches.

Question 4: How do basic branch officers respond to FM instruction? Where do they struggle the

most?

LTC Woods: Students have a bi-polar response to FM instruction. We tend to get very positive

comments along with our very negative ones. I think this is a reaction to the difficulty in

understanding the material. If so, I can relate to that. As a captain, I thought that the Army Force

Management School was a flood of weirdness. I was able to understand enough to graduate, but

most of the understanding came later through on-the-job training. There is an emotional

response to a field of learning that feels impenetrable—even when it could be very important.

Negative comments include “Focus on the material that will be pertinent to the officers being

instructed. This course focused a majority of information that 99.7% of the student body will

NEVER touch.” The positive comments are often closer to “[force management] was helpful,

primarily in thinking about the institution as a system of systems with Nth-order effects, which is

critical for planning.”

This goes back to where students have been and what they know of the Army. And after

about ten years in the Army, they do know it. The force management model isn’t what they know.

This is something someone else does. They do not yet know what their career has in store.

In an attempt to help them find relevance, we’ve started to incorporate historical

vignettes. For instance, parallel to studying organizational design, we have them read and discuss

This CGSC-generated chart demonstrates the allocation of officers in operating and generating force authorizations.

Officers across all components and occupational specialties are required to interact with Force Management.


division re-design efforts from the 1970s-1980s. This helps them understand (1) how the Army got

to where it is and (2) possibilities for future change.

A recurring complaint about force management is the long lead times to get anything

done. CGSC stresses that the Army prefers deliberate processes, but it can also pursue hasty

processes when needs arise. I equate this with the deliberate and hasty ambush. When setting

up an ambush, leaders establish priorities of work. They set up near and far side security, draw

sector sketches, etc. If they do not finish them and the enemy approaches, they can shift to a

hasty ambush. So why did they have those priorities of work? The priorities of work increase

security and lethality. That creates a better, more consistent end state. Without the deliberate

process, the unit can still spring an ambush. The same can be said for hasty and deliberate

acquisitions or hasty and deliberate force development.

Question 5: Do you believe that the POI is structured efficiently toward teaching them the most

necessary lessons about FM?

LTC Woods: Although this sounds like a yes/no question, clearly it’s more complicated.

CGSC does not want to try to make mini-FA50s of all of its students. And yet, too often for

my taste, our lessons are a reduced Army Force Management School firehose. When I took over

the position, there were nine learning objectives (one for each lesson) and each learning objective

had 5-9 standards. These were really lists of topics that the lesson discussed. The learning

objectives didn’t really speak to what we wanted students to know.

The new enabling learning objectives (ELOs) are simpler. We have reduced them to four

force management learning objectives and one finance-related objective (lessons that needed a

home). We want students to generally understand how the Army (1) identifies a problem and

some DOTMLPF-P solutions (think JCIDS), (2) develops the solution (think DAS and FDUs), (3)

resources the solution (TAA & PPBE), and (4) integrates the solution. Of course, a problem with

simplifying is that we don’t teach everyone’s favorite, pet topic. Well, that’s always going to be

true.

We are in the process of comparing what we do to the Army War College’s curriculum. Of

course, we have different products. CGSC educates the action officer, whereas AWC educates the

decision makers. They tend to teach much more in theory than in processes. Although I think this

could yield some results that we want, I’m not sure how many students at this point are ready for

that level of thinking. They are certainly smart enough. But the experience level might not be

there.

Question 6: How do you think the instruction could be improved?

LTC Woods: Stop changing it! This might not be the answer you’re looking for, but the force

management curriculum at CGSC has changed dramatically each of the last four years. This

constant churn limits our ability to apply lessons learned to improve what we have. By starting


fresh (nearly fresh) every year, we continually experience the pains of first-year risks. We have

world-class faculty who deserve to become experts in their curriculum. We are making that

harder than it has to be by constantly changing it.

Keeping it steady does not mean we are not improving it, however. We have several

initiatives ongoing. One of the most exciting is our effort to share student ideas with the

community of practice. As a result of a school-wide initiative, CGSC has added three 10-page

papers and one is in force management. It replaced a 3-5 page paper and in doing so, it required

students to think much deeper. Some of these papers are very good ideas about DOTMLPF-P

changes that the Army could pursue. The risk is that the ideas will end after they turn in their

papers for grades. And yet, most years our students have developed a few ideas that gain traction

in the Army. How can we best make these papers available to people who want to know? We are

working to establish a searchable database with short descriptions of the students’ ideas. People

who are interested can then request the full paper for deeper consideration. We have details to

work out, but I’m excited.

Question 7: Based on what you’ve learned as an instructor, what should FA50s do to integrate

into staffs that largely don’t understand force management?

LTC Woods: Wow!

First, don’t forget what the Army does. Force management is in the business of providing

capabilities to combatant commanders. Why? So they can fight and win! We are here to support

them and the more we know about how they work, the better we can do that. Working in 1-of-1

jobs helps retain some of that grounding. Reading the Multi-Domain Operating Concept helps us

understand what we are trying to do in the future. It can be easy to focus on our own staff

requirements and not take the time to paint the picture of why the requiring organization needs

to take certain actions. Working at higher echelons can create a sense of self-importance that is

not appropriate.

Second, take time to understand the “so what” of your tasks. If we have to present

information, figure out why. Try to understand our audience’s concerns and bring those out. Try

to avoid explaining everything that we’ve done or everything that we know. Your audience’s time

is valuable. With that said, we also need to be able to take them with us on that voyage of

discovery. Because they don’t know what we know, we have to find ways to paint a mental

picture of what we are trying to say. We have to explain things appropriately. This is not easy, but

if we understand the “so what,” we have a good reference point.

Third, when we have information worth sharing, find ways. At 13th ESC, I had a recurring

lunch with someone from G5 and someone from G2. It was a social lunch but productive in

unexpected ways. At U.S. Army North, the G3-FM shop gave several professional development

sessions on FMSWeb. At CGSC, I have set up OPDs for the faculty with the Mission Command

Center of Excellence and with TRADOC Force Development Directorate. These are beneficial for

all involved and also create greater understanding of the things we do.


Question 9: Biggest lessons learned during your time as a curriculum developer and instructor?

LTC Woods: First, about myself. Teaching is awesome. Mentoring is awesome. I learn while I am

educating. I see growth regularly. I establish relationships full of mutual rewards. I think I knew

that before I got here, but I have strong confirmation.

Secondly, about the Army. Our young leaders are awesome. They are smart. They are

motivated. They want to make their profession better and are willing to sweat blood to get it all

done.

Question 10: What other things we should know about your job or happenings at CGSC? What

did we not cover that should be included?

LTC Woods: CGSC looks for opportunities to contribute to the Army today! Clearly, after students

graduate, they go on to contribute to organizations across the Army, but they don’t have to wait.

With the right approach, CGSC has the ability to rapidly stand up, organize, and execute cross-

functional teams or independent researchers. Army organizations can leverage these capabilities.

I’ll offer three places in which CGSC can impact the Army today.

First, through independent research. Every year, CGSC helps many students complete a

master’s degree. These students are often in search of a good topic to examine and there should

be a way for them to see a list of topics that the Army cares about.

Second, through working groups. Before COVID-19 forced us to adjust electives this

academic year, we were planning one working group to examine multi-component units in

response to a request from U.S. Army North and another working group to examine force posture

and stationing concerns in response to a request from U.S. Army Europe.

Third, through the written project. I’ve mentioned this before. One of my students this

year forwarded his paper to Army Futures Command, who invited him to participate in a TUAS

working group. We have a captive audience of smart and experienced officers whose job for the

year is to think!

_______________________________

Author Information: LTC Woods commissioned out of Appalachian State University

ROTC into Field Artillery. Since becoming a force management officer, he has worked

on the EE PEG POM submission and in multiple operating force assignments (an ESC,

NTM-A, and ARNORTH). LTC Woods has been managing the CGSC force management

curriculum since May 2018. LTC Woods is married to the lovely and kind Angela

Woods; they have two dogs, Cinnamon and Tiana.


Major Robert McDonough, Major Tyler Espinoza, Captain Jamar Jenkins

Instituting Organizational Change across U.S. Army

Europe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The U.S. Army in Europe has four primary modes of technology-based platforms for

communication: email, telephones/radios, video conference, and chat systems all play a role. The first

three are proving insufficient within command post (CP) operations during exercises and a real-world

crises because they cannot support simultaneous, multi-echelon leader decision making capabilities, but

rely on point-to-point vertical communication. Collaborative technology chat systems like Cisco Jabber,

MiRC, Transverse, and Microsoft’s Command Virtual Remote (CVR) environment (Microsoft Teams) are

increasingly vital to the command post of the 21st century. Applying these systems within a multi-domain

fight is critical to synchronizing effects across the distributed battlespace. This battlespace cuts across all

domains of warfare (land, maritime, air, cyber, space). In order for commanders now, and more

importantly in the future, to converge effects in all domains to achieve a military (or even political)

objective integrating systems to achieve a true, real-time view of the battlespace is necessary.

Collaborative chat systems expedite the decision making process of Observe, Orient, Decide, Act

(OODA loop1) by reducing slack time between point-to-point decisions, thus enabling leaders at all

echelons to act nearly simultaneously. Critical path methodology (CPM) reveals the value of chat systems

because they inherently flatten communication across organizations. CMP is often used in supply


chain analysis to support decision making processes in an effort to improve efficiency.

Chat systems use in the U.S. Army began during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns

as a software platform to facilitate communication among organizations and expedite approval

processes in high-risk situations. For example, the MiRC chat system was vital to standing up

aeromedical evacuation operations and directly enabled the MEDEVAC community’s ability to

maintain the “golden hour” as the standard for patient evacuation. Using CPM, the following

aeromedical approval process scenarios illustrate the value of using chat systems for CP

operations. Figure 1, below, depicts how a vertical form of communication such as a telephonic

or radio notification delays simultaneous decision making and, resultantly, action.


Scenario 1: Telephonic & radio notification

This scenario assumes that point-to-point

communication takes three minutes to pass

an aeromedical request from leader to

leader, then two minutes for the leader to

make a decision.

0: Injury

+10 minutes- platoon leader assesses the

situation and requests MEDEVAC via radio

+15: Five minutes – battalion staff receives

and validates request; telephonically passes

request to next higher HQ (BDE)

+20: Five minutes- brigade staff receives

request and calls Patient Evacuation

Coordination Cell (PECC) for submission

+25: Five minutes- PECC receives and

reviews the aeromedical mission for mission

approval and assigns the mission to a Battle

Major at the combat aviation brigade (CAB)

+30: Five minutes- CAB staff reviews the

aeromedical request for validity and assigns

to the a subordinate for final action

+35: Five minutes- subordinate staff

validates the aeromedical request and

assigns to the Forward Support Medevac

Platoon

In this scenario so far the patient has been

bleeding on the battlefield for 35 minutes

prior to the aeromedical team receiving

notification for launch.

+50: Fifteen minutes- Upon notification, the

Forward Support Medical Platoon has 15

minutes to launch. During this time it is

preparing the aircraft for launch and

receiving final launch approval from the

CAB staff

+60: Ten minutes- flight time to the point of

injury

+62: Two minutes- loading the patient

+72: Ten minutes- flight to a medical facility

In this entire scenario, it will take a total of

72 minutes from the time the injury

occurred to when the patient arrives at a

medical facility. The amount of time

consumed in this scenario violates the

“Golden Hour,” principle and is potentially

fatal for the patient.

Removing the communications silos would

shorten the time from MEDEVAC request to

MEDEVAC launch & ensure the

information did not get distorted as it

passes through various gates and

gatekeepers. Scenario 2, below,

demonstrates such a process using a chat

system.


Scenario 2: Chat system notification

Notification via chat: For scenario two, the

authors assume all times remain the same, but

due to the nature of chat rooms, many of these

decisions are made almost simultaneously.

0: Injury

+10 minutes- platoon leader assesses the

situation and requests MEDEVAC via radio

+25: Fifteen minutes- Once the aeromedical

request is updated in a chat system, every

echelon can begin to validate and prepare for

the aeromedical event.

Simultaneously, the following actions occur:

All staff echelons validate that this is a

legitimate aeromedical evacuation

request

Patient Evacuation Coordination Cell

confirms that the mission meets Medical

Rules of Engagement and gives mission

approval

CAB staff validate and assign which

Forward Support Medical Platoon will

launch and validates weather for launch

approval

The Forward Support Medical

Platoon begins movement and aircraft

startup to prepare for final launch

approval and launch

+35: Ten minutes- flight time to the point of

injury

+37: Two minutes- loading the patient

+47: Ten minutes- flight to a medical facility

In this entire scenario, it will take a total of

47 minutes from the time of injury to when

the patient arrives at a medical facility.

Flattening communication and allowing

multi-echelon simultaneous decision-

making and action ensures the aeromedical

team maintains the “Golden hour” and

improves response time by 25 minutes.

Figure 2 depicts this scenario and shortened

timeline.

The use of chat systems to reduce decision

timelines and enhance communication is not

limited to time-phased actions like a

MEDEVAC launch.


U.S. Army Europe’s COVID-19 response demanded faster, real-time decision making

and action; Jabber chat helped answer this demand. Cisco Corporation’s Jabber was part of a

pre-installation on U.S. Army Europe’s computers. Prior to COVID-19, this system was largely

unused, but has since become the cornerstone of communication between U.S. Army Europe

and its subordinate units. This greatly enhanced cross-talk, dissemination of requirements, and

enabled real time collaboration to solve critical COVID-19 related problems in the European

theater.

Streamlining communication is a foundation of most Fortune 500 companies; though

our mission is different, the need remains the same for the U.S. Army. Operational usage of the

chat function during U.S. Army Europe’s COVID-19 response validated its need as a fourth

primary means of communication. Using chat systems in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is a

critical step in moving from using chat systems for single incidents (aeromedical evacuation)

to incorporating as part of a daily battle rhythm in all CP operations. The culmination of these

efforts is the implementation of Microsoft’s CVR environment which incorporates Microsoft

Office 365 and provides a virtual solution to support continuity of operations. Office 365 goes


beyond chat functions to provide a consolidated platform for content generation and

collaboration tools including Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive storage

capability, and a multitude of other collaboration tools all on one system. Army organizations

will no longer have to access separate systems for file sharing, document collaboration, chat or

video conferencing. The ability to communicate securely using the Microsoft cloud increases

readiness and continuity of operations during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

In the future, the Army envisions emerging systems and weapons to be more lethal

with longer striking distances & decision cycles to be more condensed in conflict - effectively

compressing OODA loop previously mentioned. The Department of Defense Joint Doctrine

Note 1-19 illustrated in Figure 3, describes the Conflict Continuum as “a world of enduring

competition conducted through a mixture of cooperation, competition below armed conflict,

and armed conflict. These descriptors refer to the relationship between the US and another

strategic actor (state or non-state) in relation to a set of specific policy objectives.”2 When

applying this model in “competition”, as we’ve seen during the COVID-19 health crisis,

collaborative tools such as chat and video teleconference have been the only means to

command units and sustain a sense of normalcy to allow decisions making and idea

sharing. The COVID-19 pandemic forced units to learn while in execution & has given the

U.S. Army a glimpse into the future of truly distributed mission command - a jump start at the

looming problem sets facing the future battlefield. Though collaborative tools are not new to

the military, recent events highlight the increased importance and criticality of such tools

given the speed of information as it continues to drive modern warfare, especially within the

competition phase of the war continuum. When focused on the competition phase, events like

a world health crisis create both seams and opportunities (space) for the all elements of

national power to work together and influence global competitors.

In conclusion, we have identified lessons learned, best practices and a way to move

forward as we integrate Microsoft CVR environment into our command post operations across


U.S. Army Europe. We have framed the need to ensure Soldiers, civilian employees, and other

personnel associated with the U.S. Army are trained on the most up to date technology

systems as the need to interconnect external and internal organizations becomes paramount

over time. Ensuring we can communicate quickly, accurately, and widely to enable decision-

makers at all levels will make a notable difference during all phases military operations in

Europe and across the Department of Defense’s Competition Continuum. The next steps

consist of accurately documenting the rapid organizational change that is occurring in U.S.

Army Europe and embedding technological resources into regular events to ensure lessons

learned during U.S. Army Europe’s COVID-19 response are not forgotten. U.S. Army Europe

and 21st Theater Sustainment Command leaders fostered an environment and culture that

enabled innovative-mindsets resulting in an agile organization responding effectively during

this COVID-19 crisis.

We look forward to sharing the progress made and results as this is an excellent on-

going case study of instituting organization change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

_______________________

Sources:

1 Boyd, John, R., The Essence of Winning and Losing, 28 June 1995.

2 Department of Defense, Joint Doctrine Note 1-19, Competition Continuum (Washington D.C. 2019) p2.

______________________

Author Information

MAJ Robert McDonough is an Aeromedical Pilot currently serving as the Chief, Commander's Initiative Group,

for the Commanding General of 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Kaiserslautern, Germany.

MAJ Tyler Espinoza is an Aviation Officer currently serving as the Aide-de-Camp for the Commanding General

of United States Army Europe.

CPT Jamar Jenkins is a USAR Officer serving as the Deputy Chief, Commander's Initiative Group, for the

Commanding General of 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Kaiserslauten, Germany. In his civilian role, Jamar

is a Product Manager for the Intent Based Networking Group of Cisco Systems, Inc. in California. He earned

both a Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Business Analytics from The College of

William & Mary.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110324054054/http:/www.danford.net/boyd/essence.htm


The FA 50 Personnel Development Office (PDO), in coordination with the FA 50 Human Resources

Command (HRC) Career Manager, manages the FA 50 Broadening Opportunity Programs. The programs

provide opportunities for officers to broaden their experience through continued education and

experience with industry. Selected FA 50 officers can expect to experience proven practices that will

enhance the skills, knowledge, tools, and attributes necessary to successfully articulate, manage, and

lead change in the Force Development and Force Integration fields. Applications for Advanced Civil

Schooling (ACS), Training with Industry (TWI at Amazon Corporation and FedEx), and Army Fellowship

programs (RAND and MITRE) are accepted annually. Guidance and selection procedures are formalized

to assure transparency, objectivity, and equal opportunity.

This year, in order to give officers ample time to submit their application, the initial call for applications

was issued by the FA 50 PDO via email, posted online at the FA50 website, and advertised on milSuite in

February 2020. The application suspense is 15 July 2020. In addition, the call for applications email and

online message also included the Professional Opportunities Guidelines. The FA 50 PDO will source 5x

ACS, 1x RAND, 2x MITRE, and 2x Amazon and FedEx candidates.

Each Broadening Opportunity candidate will incur an Active Duty Service Obligation (ADSO) & follow on

assignment approved by the FA 50 PDO and the HRC Assignment Officer.

Army Fellowship Program - minimum of 3 year ADSO

Training with Industry - minimum of 3 year ADSO

Advanced Civil Schooling - minimum of 2 year ADSO

The FA 50 PDO added two additional documents to the application packet this year: the Letter of Intent (LOI) and a Memorandum of Agreement.

The Letter of Intent is required before the applicant submits a packet. The (LOI) notifies the

applicant’s immediate supervisor of his/her intent to submit an application for the Broadening

Opportunities Program. The LOI must be signed by the first O6/COL in the applicant’s

supervisory chain of command (or a GS-15 equivalent).

The Memorandum of Agreement is required upon selection into the Broadening Opportunities

Program. This Memorandum of Agreement will be signed notifying the Officer of his/her

agreement to serve an Active Duty Service Obligation IAW AR 350-1, AR 621-7 and AR 621-1,

which states that s/he will incur an obligation based on an approved application.

THE FA 50 BROADENING OPPORTUNITIES SELECTION PROCESS


After the application process window is closed, the Panel Selection Board will convene on 14 August

2020. The timeline below will give you an idea of how the Broadening Opportunities process works

once the applications packets are received:

1. No later than close of business on 15 July 2020, all applicants’ packets must be in to the FA 50 PDO

POC, COL Jimmy Blain, for content review.

2. On 14 August 2020, the selection panel will assemble to review all applications and establish an

Order of Merit List.

3. On 14 August 2020, the Order of Merit List is reviewed by FA 50 PDO Chief and the HRC assignment

Officer.

4. In September 2020, FA 50 PDO Chief and the HRC Assignment Officer will brief the results to the

Executive Agent for approval and selectees will be notified.

5. Once the selectees are notified they must begin assembling all required documents requested by

HRC, this includes engaging and communicating with the university/college for all necessary documents

prior to the HRC suspense date. Failure to meet the suspense dates provided can result in a

disqualification from the program.

6. From September 2020 thru March 2021, the HRC assignment Officer will work on final details with

the selectees in order to provide an RFO.

7. From June thru August 2021, all selectees will report to their programs.

If you have any questions your POCs are:

- FA 50 PDO Broadening Opportunities Program Interim Manager: COL Jimmy Blain @

[email protected]

- HRC Assignment Manager: MAJ LaRon C. Somerville @ [email protected]

THE FA 50 BROADENING OPPORTUNITIES SELECTION PROCESS CONTINUED


FA50 Force Managers Hall of Fame Nomination 2020

Dr. Ginette A. Braziel

The FA50 PDO announced its nominations for personnel to be inducted into the Force

Management Hall of Fame. The U.S. Army Force Managers Hall of Fame (FM HoF) is an official

activity of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G-8, U.S. Army, and Pentagon.

The Chief, Functional Area 50 Personnel Development Office, acts as a non-voting Executive

Director, recording secretary, Hall of Fame Historian, and curator of the U.S. Army Force Managers

Hall of Fame.

Established by the G-8 in 2004, the Force Managers Hall of Fame recognizes military and

civilian personnel who have made significant and lasting contributions to the Army as leaders and

practitioners of the art and science of Force Management.

In the fall of 2004, the Army G-8 asked the Director of Force Development to develop the G-

8 hallway display including the Army Force Management historical murals (1900 to the present) and

the accompanying Force Manager’s Hall of Fame (FM HoF).

In 2005, the DA G-8 unveiled the murals along with the initial HoF honorees. In May 2008, the

second FM HoF class (GEN Kroesen, COL Whittle, Mr. Lowery)

was inducted in a ceremony hosted by G-8. GEN Starry was

inducted in June 2010; in 2012 LTG(R) Speakes, Mr. Croall and

COL(R) Vilcoq were added.

In 2009, the Director of Force Development made the

FM HoF a bi-annual event. The 2020 FM HoF Induction was

conducted in conjunction with the Senior Force Managers

Seminar in May 2020.

The board of directors for the HoF is:

- Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 – President of the Board

- Director, Force Management, G-357

- Director, Force Development, G-8

- Director, Force Programs, Office of the Chief of Army Reserve

- Director, Force Management Division, Army National Guard

- Serving FA50 General Officers

GEN Donn A. Starry was inducted to the FM HoF in 2010.


Nomination criteria as follows:

- Military or civilian, living or otherwise, who has made a significant, recognizable and lasting

contribution to Army Force Management Community.

- After 2012, nominees must have been out of federal service (military and/or civilian) for at least

two years.

- Timeframe is from approximately 1900 to the present, i.e., the timeframe covered by the historical

murals.

- A “significant contribution” is characterized by actions above and beyond expected duty

performance that materially enhance the practice of Army Force Management or benefit the

force management community. It may take the form of a single significant act or, more likely, it

can be the result of a career of dedicated service. Attainment of high rank does not itself

constitute a significant contribution.

In mid-December, the FA50 PDO will send out

more details by email directly to the Force Management

community including:

- HQDA G-3/5/7 FM

- HQDA G-1 CP26 FCR

- OCAR, Chief Force Programs

- ARNG, Chief Force Management Division

- The Army Force Management School

- Past Honorees

In addition, the next request for nominations will be published on the FA50 and the milSuite

websites. Nominations are submitted as a memo with a detailed justification to the FA50 PDO, Attn:

Chief PDO.

This year we would like to recognize a fallen Hall of Fame member Mr. Paul

M. Vilcoq II (1941-2020), inducted May 2012. Please keep his family in your prayers.

Major General (Ret.) Bob Rosenkranz was inducted to the

FM HoF during a 2010 ceremony


Team,

I am excited to be a part of the resurgence of our beloved force management publication, The

Oracle. I am especially excited to do so as the Career Manager at HRC, helping to sustain our

community’s upward trajectory in the eyes of many Army Senior Leaders. I am honored to be a

part of facilitating career development for so many brilliant Officers at varying levels and I pray

that my efforts are deemed worthy in the hearts and minds of all the Officers & Families I serve.

Each movement cycle is unique in its challenges, so I will always ask for your continued patience

as the team and I here at HRC and at the FA50 Personnel Development Office work to support

Army requirements however they may manifest. Much work is still left to be done and many

challenges left to conquer. I will continue to communicate relevant information with the field to

help us all make informed decisions for our individual and collective futures. Soldiers First!

Overall, the health of the Force

Management Community is

very strong. Our VTIP accessions

each cycle continue to out pace

our retirements & separations. The

yellow and red blocks at the LTC

level are a bit deceiving. While

we appear to be just

understrength we need to

consider that we had 18 MAJs

up for promotion in this most

recent board. Once those results

are published, we can expect

these numbers to get back to green pretty quickly. HRC is shifting from a 1st/3rd Quarter VTIP

cycle to a 2nd /4th Quarter cycle in order to better align to PCS movement timelines. This change

means that the next opportunity for VTIP is 4th Quarter, FY20 with the governing MILPER message

expected to be released in June 2020.


HRC Analytics: Promotions We continue to do well with promotions at all levels. Be sure to read the Branch Analysis and

Key Points section for all three board analysis charts.


HRC Analytics: Promotions, continued


HRC Analytics: KNB Panel Analysis Congratulations to all those Officers selected for FY21 LTC and COL Key Nominative Billets. This is

a testament to your hard work, exceptional past performance, and anticipated future success.

Be sure to read the Panel Analysis and Key Points for more details on the execution of our first

ever KNB Panel.

HRC Analytics: 20-02 Movement Cycle Turbulence As you are all aware, COVID-19 challenges continue to impact our 20-02 Movement Cycle by

creating increased turbulence. The chart reflects the market turbulence that occurred prior to

COVID-19 and stop move policies. The biggest takeaway is that not every job that gets validated

will get filled. The loss of available Officers to Move due to retirements/separations, emerging

requirements, force structure changes, PME selections, and other factors will always create

turbulence that we will have to fight through. The greatest success of the 20-02 cycle is that 63%

of our Officers in the market received 1 of their top 3 choices. This is largely a result of Officers and

Units remaining active throughout the entire open market window, conducting interviews,

updating resumes, and mutually expressing interests in specific jobs and Officers.


From the Personnel Development Office

COL Jimmy Blain, Chief, FA50 Personnel Development Office

Greetings from the FA50 Personnel Development Office, on behalf of the G-8

Director of Force Development I want to thank the Army Force Management

community for all the hard work and tremendous personal and professional

adaptability exercised since the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.

The FA50 Personnel Development Office manages the personnel lifecycle

functions of the Force Management Functional Area, similar to a basic

branch Commandant’s office. This year the Army has accelerated many efforts that affect the

acquisition (Direct Commission) and distribution (AIM 2.0) of personnel. COVID-19 threw a

wrench in the 20-02 movement cycle, but rest assured that I am working closely with MAJ

Somerville at HRC to adjudicate each Officer’s PCS timeline.

Within the FA50 community, we are keeping pace with a couple of priority efforts. The

proponent is working with Research Psychologists at the Selection and Assignment Research

Unit (SARU) of the U.S. Army Research Institute (ARI) to develop a Talent Battery

Assessment to predict success within the Functional Area for officers transitioning from their

Basic Branch through the Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program (VTIP) process or accessing

directly into the Functional Area through the Direct Commission Process. We expect to

conduct a concurrent validation on the assessment this 3rd Quarter against FA50s who have

between 6-12 months of experience post-graduation from the FA50 Qualification Course,

with input on their job performance from raters and senior raters.

Currently officers are assessed into the functional area on two areas, passion and manner of

performance, as a basic branch officer. With the addition of the talent battery we can add a


more predictive assessment to help inform our decisions. With the implementation of the

Army Talent Alignment Process through Assignment Integrated Module (AIM), we quickly

became aware that officer preference is going to have a greater impact on assignments.

Therefore, the PDO recently published a change to the Force Management Chapter of DA

PAM 600-3, Officer Professional Development and Career Management, in which we define

the appropriate mix of education, training, and experience needed by the officer corps at

each grade level. The intent behind the change is to minimize the “constraints” on the

marketplace where Officers and units interact and submit preference information and

maximize market execution of the assignments process. DA PAM 600-3 defines the jobs and

education required by the proponents to develop an officer; therefore the change will ensure

that officers have the experiences and skills required for critical positions and that they are

making informed assignment preference decisions.

Finally, the Senior Force Manager Seminar was slated for May 2002, to be hosted by MG Erik

Peterson, Director of Force Development. FA50 COLs and LTCs of all compos, and selected

senior Force Management DA civilians were invited to participate, although all within the

community are welcome. This year’s theme was Talent Management, aligned to the Army’s

People Strategy, to shape the proponent’s focus areas of Leader Development and Personnel

Management in this changing environment. This conference is postponed; the future date is

still undetermined.

Keep up to date with activities within the FA50 Community through joining the FA50

milSuite page, https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/fa50. You must join the group in order

to share documents, post discussion topics, and start blogs. You can simply join the group by

clicking the “follow” tab at the top of the page. Additionally, you have the option to receive

immediate notifications by checking “connection streams” and “Inbox” blocks in the

“follow” drop down menu - I recommend that you do this.


Contact Info

Chief, FA50 PDO (outgoing) COL Jimmy Blain 703-545-1807 [email protected] LTC Latrice Clark (Incoming) [email protected] Program Manager, FA50 Broadening Opportunities (Interim) COL Jimmy Blain 703-545-1807 [email protected] HRC FA50 Branch Manager MAJ LaRon Somerville 502-613-6681, DSN 312-983-6681 [email protected] Oracle Editing Team MAJ Catherine (Cait) Smith DSN 314-523-0449 [email protected] FA 50 Website: www.fa50.army.mil AKO: https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/194547

AFMS Online: http://www.afms1.belvoir.army.mil

FA 50 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Army.FA50

HRC on-line: https://www.hrc.army.mil

milSuite: https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/fa50

FA 50s’ DVIDS: https://www.hrc.army.mil/milper

MAJ Sergio Loynaz [email protected]






http://www.fa50.army.mil/

https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/194547

http://www.afms1.belvoir.army.mil/

https://www.facebook.com/Army.FA50

https://www.hrc.army.mil/

https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/fa50

https://www.hrc.army.mil/milper


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