JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ -- Service members from five separate branches attended the Leading Edge Joint Service Seminar at JB MDL during the week of 6-10 June, 2022.
The seminar was hosted by the JB MDL Top III and was open to all military branches. 19 service members from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard in the ranks for E-4 to E-6 to prepare them with the basic foundation to support the Joint Military Environment.
“Coming from the Coast Guard, especially on a 65-foot tugboat, it’s easy for us to get stuck in our own little world.” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Griffin. “Coming in, my expectations were limited simply because of my lack of experience with working with the other branches. After getting here and learning how the other branches really work, it brought me a whole new scope of thinking into how we effectively accomplish the mission when working together.”
Key elements of the seminar were debunking cultural myths, talent management, ethical dilemmas, and discussions about our nation’s adversaries. Working within the National Defense Strategy, these discussions centered on the importance of modernization and transformation in order to cultivate the programs and people that we need to thwart our competitors.
“Not only did I learn a lot great leadership advice.” Griffin continued, “It gave me a lot of insight of the current world stage. It’s not things we typically discuss at my home unit as small as mine. The things I’ll be taking back with me is the talent management and how we can replicate what some of the other services do better than we do.”
To tie in everything they’ve learned, each day the students were able to immerse themselves in the works of another service branch, to include the Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test, a tour of Naval Heritage Lakehurst, and a virtual Expeditionary Shooter Training. Finally, a capstone was presented by the students to a panel of Senior Enlisted Leaders to demonstrate all they’ve learned throughout the seminar.
To conclude the Seminar week, Command Sgt. Major James Van Zlike, Command Sgt. Major Army Support Activity, spoke to the students during the closing ceremony. “Being on this joint base have a unique opportunity to solve problems with inter-force solutions. If you see your sister services doing it right, find out how they’re doing it, and find an innovative way for you to adopt it.”