By: Mark Carpowich, Naval Aviation Enterprise
June 28, 2018
What happens when you put all of senior aviation leadership together in one room?
On June 27-28, 2018, command leadership from across the Naval Aviation spectrum gathered for the annual Commanders Training Symposium (CTS) at NAS North Island. Led by VADM DeWolfe Miller and RADM Roy Kelley, the symposium touched on a variety of relevant issues facing today's aviators, including retention and trust-building at the unit level.
"It's us, it's this room," VADM Miller told attendees at the start of the event.
"It's your leadership, it's your competence, it's our teamwork together that's going to get us there. We're the ones that make this happen. Because I'm convinced it's this room where it happens or not."
Many of the captains in the room were attending their first CTS, including VX-9 commanding officer (CO) Jesse Hilliker. Having assumed command just a few months prior, CAPT Hilliker came to the event hoping "to hear more from the Air Boss about his vision, what he expects from us," he said. "I'm looking forward to hear what's on his mind - just from the agenda, I can get a sense of what things are potentially hurting his head, and what areas he needs everyone rowing in the same direction."
The attendees had the opportunity to hear from CAPT (ret.) Jack Ensch, who as a lieutenant spent seven months as a POW during the Vietnam War. He and his wife spoke to the group about how the experience affected them both, each stressing the importance of family as part of Navy life...something CAPT Adam Kijek could relate to, as he and other attendees were invited to bring their spouses to San Diego for the week.
"It's great this year that we brought the spouses," he said. "That really brings in the family element - that's what this business is all about."
By the time the two-day gathering had ended, leaders were able to return to their home units with not only a better idea of the challenges facing the aviation community, but also how to handle them. Despite their representing a wide variety of platforms, attendees like CAPT Kijek - who, as the CO of VP-30, has now been to CTS twice - believe the issues and messages were universal enough to apply to everyone.
"Each platform shares its own unique challenges and opportunities, but we also have the commonality of aviation going forward, so I think this is a great forum where we kind of talk about those common challenges: retention, trust-building with our JOs and the environment that we're in," he said. "That translates across whatever platform you're on. To be able to hear everybody else's opinions on it, and how they're tackling it, you get to take forward, 'Hey, maybe I didn't think about that." So, bringing all those different ideas together, that all helps build a bigger repertoire to take back home and make sure you can help do a better job of leading your platform."
Mark Carpowich is a public affairs specialist with Naval Aviation Enterprise. A former Navy intelligence officer, he is a longtime journalist and blogger who holds Master's degrees in political science, criminology and music.
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