Patriots on point with professional development Published Jan. 12, 2012 By Army Col. Craig A. Osborne 174th Infantry Brigade commander JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- As a result of the pace of operations over the last ten years, one can argue the Army has experienced a loss in some of its core competencies and training skills. In many units, officer professional development programs have significantly diminished due to the urgency of immediate tasks and responsibilities. We are combating that trend at the 174th Infantry Brigade. A robust effort is currently underway to educate our officer corps and encourage future growth. Although developed for officers, it is open to all members of our brigade regardless of rank. I believe we have both a responsibility and an honor to influence the development of our officers within the brigade. It is a mechanism for us to influence the future of the Army and mold its leaders. I am not interested in ensuring all of our officers in the brigade think like me - I simply want them to think. I have been in some great units throughout my career, but I always thought we could have had a more structured and effective professional development program. I have always believed education is important, and that belief has spurred us to ensure our officers are not just trained, but educated as well. Our brigade has adopted an aggressive initiative to invigorate OPD by departing from a conventional style of thinking and embracing innovative ways to educate its officers. First, we conduct classes on topics that not only help us in the conduct of our duties here within the brigade but they also help us think ahead to future challenges. This past quarter there was a class on reserve component considerations. Since the brigade is composed of both active and reserve component soldiers, the class was designed to help active component officers better understand systems unique to the Reserve. We also had classes on counterinsurgency and the benefits of a flattened organization. Both of these focused on how we can execute our duties better in the future. Additionally, our officers are completing the Multi-Source Assessment and Feedback 360 tool to increase our self-awareness as leaders, and everyone is required to complete two specified courses offered by the Army Safety Center. Our second component is a specified reading and writing program. Over the last several years, I have been fortunate to have served under strong leaders in unique places. Those assignments have exposed me to things outside the traditional infantryman list of readings and situations. It has become accepted our junior officers need to be culturally adroit and aware of political conditions to succeed in operational environments - being a gifted infantryman, for example, is no longer enough to excel in combat. Throughout the fiscal year, every quarter has a theme. Last quarter's theme was organizational leadership and development and the theme this quarter is operations in Afghanistan. Each month, our officers read a selection I've provided and they write a properly formatted memo, identifying their three main takeaways. The majority of our readings are from formal military schools such as the National War College and the pre-command courses. Others were drawn from the Chief of Staff of the Army's Reading List, the Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, and the Journal of Business Ethics. I intentionally selected some articles that advance alternate points of view, because I believe our officers will grow more as leaders if we read and think about points of view contrary to our own and understand why our opinions differ. Not only do the readings broaden the knowledge base of our officers, but the writing requirement forces them to think about what they have read and concisely identify what is most significant to them. We also read a book each quarter. I have provided our officers a list of three books each quarter that are consistent with the theme. They each choose one book to read. A similar writing requirement exists and designed to ensure our officers develop proper writing and staff skills for future use; as a result, each of the memos must be formatted and written in accordance with Army Regulations governing correspondence. It is a mechanism to help our officers communicate clearly in the written word. I personally lead discussions of the books for all officers present at the joint base. Besides being prepared, my only requirement of them is everyone must engage in the discussion. The third and last component is our officer Physical Training program. All officers present at the joint base conduct PT together each month, and we try to do different things each time we gather. Last month we went to the Philadelphia Flyers practice facility and played broomball on ice, and this month we are going to compete against one another in water polo. It is a good method to build camaraderie with all officers who are located near the joint base and helps us build esprit de corps. It is often easy to become isolated in our respective battalions, but officer PT enables us to see and enjoy competition against each other. In the Army, we talk a great deal about teaching and coaching our subordinates, and our OPD program is a method to guide the development of our officers along a specified path. I feel I have an obligation to equip them to confront future challenges. It is easy to spend all of our time simply executing our daily tasks; unfortunately, that is often done at the expense of thinking about the future and developing the knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary for future positions and responsibilities. Additionally, the vast majority of our officers have deployed repeatedly, and this assignment is a good opportunity for us to reflect on those experiences, understand the lessons they provides, and look ahead to how we can become better leaders in the future. Although we are busy here, we have the ability to allocate time and resources to increase professional study and identify ways to improve both our personal and organizational performances. General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in an article for the Armed Forces Journal in February of 2011 that, "Throughout our long history, the Army has developed capable and prominent strategic leaders. We pride ourselves in the long line of strategic leaders who have served this great Army and our beloved nation through its highs, its lows and everything in between for 235 years. To preserve this great legacy, it is our obligation to "keep first things first" and ensure leader development remains our first and foremost priority. We need to develop leaders who will not only win today's wars, but also shape the future and win tomorrow's wars." It is with this same intent I challenge officers to possess strength in both mind and body. We developed the program to challenge our officers intellectually as well as physically and time will tell our success.