Good judgment about people & their ability to contribute to solving problems is an extremely useful skill. Additionally, continuous learning curves are brought to bear by staying up-to-date on current events in specific subject areas. New developments of interest should be disseminated to the right working groups so they will be fully prepped when the time comes for teams to reach consensus.
Personal measures of professional growth include the acquisition of new skills, knowledge & insights into how decisions are made at all levels of the organisation. These growth metrics are major factors in determining success & the ability to stretch out jobs by reaching out to learn more about subject matter areas that may not be immediately apparent.
Focusing on direct application of new concepts to the problem at hand is required & it is essential to have the ability to distinguish potentials of multiple ideas that appear to have merit. It is a skill to be able to say “no” to certain people in critical situations, creating the ability to better set priorities.
Success in new positions is often times the result of deciding what is really important about the tasks at hand. It is critical to look at each day as a new opportunity to perform at high levels & to make best efforts. Success is a direct result of setting big goals, being honest & choosing to work with the right people who are also important stakeholders in the result of projects & thrive in competitive situations.
New Positions in the organisation require appreciation for how essential the components of good reporting to superiors are for success of future operations. These qualities are critical in realising essential goals & go a long way towards establishing a positive image of the mission to be completed. Impacts of good reporting include the ability to plan actionable adjustments to future operations.
Outstanding results should be clearly communicated in order to establish long-term connections between Superiors & units in the field towards repeatable actions, the Bread & Butter of missions carried out in theatre. When good relations with superiors are long-lasting, there is increased potential for mission success.
The experience Superiors have with good reporting of mission results will affect how other stakeholders view work performed by the unit. Superiors do talk & share information about both performance & setting realistic goals. So interactions outside the purview of the unit may affect not only results of current missions, but also the type of mission the unit will likely be tasked with in the future.
It is not good practise to assume the expectations of Superiors are being satisfied, so it is always best to follow up even after tasks look like they have been completed. Then, use the Feedback to provide valuable insight into the quality & characteristics of future missions.
Operational Success is the main contributor to gain satisfaction of Superiors. Just as important as, or maybe even more important than, competing concerns in meeting future missions. If Superiors are not being recipient to field reports meeting or exceeding expectations, it is extremely unlikely that the unit will be tasked for similar missions in the future.
Superiors usually appreciate checking in, especially when some components of the task need improvement & it is possible to use the opportunity to correct deficiencies on a timely basis. In addition, information about mission design & assignments given to units participating in exercises can be used to determine future operations in the field.
In many instances, solid & thorough reporting of results in theatre to superiors may be the one thing that distinguishes unit action from competitors. Adverse reviews of performance may compromise the future position of the unit in future missions.
When reporting to superiors, it is essential not only to describe current events, but also future goals that can be set & achieved such as improved scheduling skills, new performance targets or even skills above & beyond what Superiors have expected in the past. Examples of creative & innovative prototype actions are appropriate if it reinforces patterns of mission planning & future success.
If units are tasked with new missions, it will be crucial to clearly communicate to Superiors the success realised in the field as a direct result of meeting the goal. This indicates that realistic goals have been set so future focus can be applied to fine-tuning continued pursuit goal outcomes. Select examples showcasing both skills & abilities of the unit to meet future mission requirements b/c initiative & resourcefulness have been well-demonstrated.
Tell Me About Yourself:
1) What are your major strengths & characteristics contributing to your effectiveness within Military Service organisations? Describe how your assets have been used to establish operational success.
2) How do you explain your professional success to date & detail why you consider Military Service to be so critical? Describe major goals you've set for yourself recently.
3) Tell me what you know about Military Service & what motivates you to ensure this type of work will lead to successful career path. What goals do you envision achieving within this organisation?
4) Since this will be your first shot at leading Military Divisions, how do you know this career path will meet & sustain your interest as long as required by the mission? Describe the ideal scenario that would satisfy your operational goals & what will be required from the Services to achieve professional growth.
5) How do you plan on constructing your work week given the constraints of Military Service & make realistic deadlines where persuasion of Superiors is critical to success of creative & innovative projects you will promote?
6) How do you organise & plan for implementing new techniques within the Military Services to achieve success of major projects? Describe processes where you used your assets to create practical solutions to difficult problems in critical situations.
7) Describe situations when the Military Services had not established rules or precedent to help you attack a problem. What achievements resulted from your action & how do you stay current on changing conditions in the field where rigorous operational discipline is required?
8) How do you plan on navigating Military Services Command structure & set realistic deadlines for schedules you have to meet based on the quality of your organisational skills? Give examples of situations when you were asked to accomplish tasks but weren't given enough information to immediately resolve problems.
9) Describe situations where adherence to Military Service administrative realities impacted project schedules & became critical factors in successful missions. What specific examples of can you give where skills you learned were applied at work sites?
10) Now that you've had a chance to learn more about Military Service organisations, what would you change about our operations? How will you use techniques for descriptive justification to convince Superiors of project merit?
Top 50 Highlights of Navy Congressional Testimony:
1. Every Major Weapon System impact by sequester- reduce quantity procured, delay schedule delivery & ops capable, defer & absorb cost growth
2. Procurement rates increasing, competition & stability tech improve, affordability improved & base sustained as impact of sequester confronted
3. Budget request supports Replace/Sustain, procure & install multi-intel capable & modify to meet emergent force structure requirements
4. Modern programme include weapons advances, integrate combat control systems, sensors, open architect & upgrade retain capability
5. Contracts focus on meeting stress perform require while reducing costs-- not only design & product, but also operation & sustainment
6. Design, develop & construct efforts required to overcome tech challenges inherent to advanced capable-significant cost perform impact
7. Must establish affordable require invest & mandate Open Systems Design; leverage competition & employ contract tech to control cost
8. Some ships & aircraft will be unavailable to deploy & surge b/c need repairs; need to realign maintain periods within tight ops schedule
9. We will be unable to continue current & anticipated level of ops, compel us to cancel maintenance & training, constrain ability to invest
10. Readiness is already highly fragile. In order to meet current ops require, shrunken fleet stays deployed longer & gets repaired less
11. Preparing to adjust manning in accordance w/ anticipated reductions in Fleet flying hrs. & cancellation of new aircraft inductions
12. Work content growth reflects additions to resolve tech uncertainties, but require creep can be factor & subject to affordable constraints
13. Acquisition controls- block upgrades, content removal& postponing fixes until sustain baseline may delay capable & push costs into future
14. Premature Contracts w/o clear basis for stable design affect work content & cost growth- concurrent products impose retrofit costs
15. Acquisition programmes need to rely on best practices to select contract type & incentive structure given maturity, system type & strategy
16. Acquisitions almost always involve research and develop- uncertainties imply cost, schedule & performance risks relative to early estimates
17. Time require to acquire new capable longer than strategic tech pattern-Plan Performance intertwined w/external cost & schedule demand response
18. Contract execute elements w/unique temporal baseline & cost target can be early indicators but may not affect measure-must evaluate data type
19. Perform exam at contract level provides detailed & useful indicators that eventually will be seen at aggregate procure programme levels
20. Contract-level information describe measures constitute total programme cost growth from original target cost for early lot of units procured
21. Greatest acquisition challenge to identify relationships between affected factors: Contract terms & incentive, workforce skills & outcomes
22. Acquisition system outputs & outcomes measured by functions, responsible, accountable entities & institutions assess cost, schedule & tech
23. Centralised policies & streamlined acquisition execution provide flexibility & innovation w/strict emphasis on discipline & accountability
24. Acquisition system interacts w/systems controlling fiscal require for items procured driven by broader policy & strategy to meet missions
25. Phases subsequent to early production reflected by early estimates--phases to be covered as information access, quality & availability improvement
26. Rigor introduced into process facilitates standardized & accurate assessment of require fleet maintain & requisite ops account invest
27. Challenge in balancing maintenance required for both new & legacy systems in inventory & logistics tail associated w/ parts availability
28. We look at operating forward, look to be ready through series of tasking metrics for mission system-capable aircraft to go forward
29. Challenge is capacity-units can only be in one place-As force is cut we look at ways to mitigate, must forward station for efficiency
30. Maintenance backlog continues to grow & ability to drive backlog down something we would have to carry over into future year accounts
31. Expect will continue to see rise in maintenance item growth to be worked for a few years until all ships complete inspection protocols
32. Programmed funding to support require for maintain, logistics, sparing & surface force modern to ensure full expected service life
33. Concept details perform results of platform design to simulate Weapon Systems & test viability of hardware use to reach performance levels
34. Risk of unilateral disarmament thru runaway costs. Unless system fixed it will soon be impossible to maintain force of sufficient size
35. Acquisition process seriously broken--increasing number of programmes plagued by cost overruns, schedule slips & failures to perform
36. For contracting ops, it seems there is enough standardisation [so] you shouldn’t have to go back to drawing board every time
37. Preparing to adjust deploy in accordance w/ anticipated reductions in Fleet flying hours & cancellation of new aircraft inductions
38. Significant cuts to Ops & Maintenance, Navy accounts to preserve overseas & forward-deployed readiness to maximum extent possible
39. Notifications made to allow prep time for necessary adjustments under year-long continuing resolution & potential sequestration
40. Distributed open system design used w/ distributed processing& modularity--Introduction to fleet comes from single source library
41. Capability interface systems target limited cost growth & develop rapid costs insertion & advanced build processing
42. Defined interfaces enable variety of material solutions incorporated [plug’n protect] in Aircraft survive suites w/o modification
43. Open Architecture develop represents confluence of biz & tech practises yielding modular, interops systems & open interface standards
44. Must Improve capabilities determination process address joint acquisition system ensure ability to maintain tasked weapon systems& capacity
45. Must correct shortcomings recommend actions to revise statutory framework link acquisition w/ sustain require& bolster core determination
46. Core requirements not identified early in acquisition process to allow establishment of core capabilities within mandated timeframe
47. Sequester limits capital structure, innovation &causes spike in inefficiencies b/c we stretch out programmes & drive up costs
48. Pressing need exists to discuss sustainment; it is expensive, accounting for as much as two thirds of weapon system lifespan costs
49. If focus is on sustain w/o relation to force structure, readiness & capability cannot be delivered over time resulting in deferred maintain
50. Must transfer funds to highest priorities. Readiness loses when budget parts untouchable. Must resist kicking it down the road