By LT Jimmy "Two Times" Licata
When I boarded my flight in Baltimore to travel to the first-of-its-kind CNAF Junior Officer's Career Training Symposium (CTS), I honestly did not know what to expect. While this was the start of the trip, the experience truly began with an online survey several months prior. The survey itself was simple enough in its requests: provide some basic personal info, share some thoughts on what is going well in Naval Aviation, and give some insights as to what needs improvement. After giving it some thought, I submitted my response and figured that, due to my timeline abutting the one-year mark into my shore tour, the odds of receiving an invitation to the February 2019 conference at NAS North Island were low. However, I was still interested in submitting some feedback just to get my thoughts on the record. So I was pleasantly surprised when the invitations were sent out and I found my name on the roster.
I’ll admit that I traveled to the conference with the healthy skepticism of any JO as to how direct feedback as to the issues of the day within Naval Aviation would be received; feedback through the lens of a Junior Officer in the 2019 Naval Aviation Enterprise. But again, we were invited to the CTS for exactly this reason… a group of JOs to solve the world’s problems, as we often do.
The conference itself was a cross-section of all of Naval Aviation in terms of aircrew background, platform representation, and shore tour experiences. But collectively, as a group of JOs between the final year of their initial sea tour and the first year of their shore tour, the themes and concerns voiced were quite common. The CTS began with a warm welcome from Vice Admiral Miller and an overview of the purpose of the symposium: an exchange of ideas between junior and senior leaders throughout Naval
Aviation.
The PERS-43 brief took its entire allotted two hours (and then some), as much of the discussion focused on a transition to the new FITREP system currently in field trials, and what its implications might be. The topics of “career timing” and “due course/golden path” career trajectories were also discussed. My personal observation seemed to be that many JOs were interested in the notion of career paths that are divorced from rigid timing structures, summary groups, and hard milestones. I include myself in that
group.
The first day’s lunch saw the JO attendees split into small-table groups for a working discussion on several key themes derived from the initial CTS online survey responses. Topics ranged from leadership development, administrative burdens, and retention issues for JOs contemplating Department Head. Following lunch, the entire group reconvened to delve into what was discussed. Table reps presented their group’s thoughts and opened up the floor for further discussion. Assisted by Rear Admiral Kelley, CNAL, the Air Boss helped frame this discussion of the issues and concerns of Junior Officers across the NAE in terms of what could be done at higher levels of leadership to act on these ideas. While a conference of two days will never solve all the world’s problems, it was awesome to have a rare, direct line to Naval Aviation leadership that was welcoming of all ideas, and took a great deal of them for action on the spot.
Following the first idea exchange, Rear Admiral Jones, Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve, shared his perspective on life in the reserve component. It was around 1430 at this point in the day, and if one was looking for an energy boost, it would be fair to say that Admiral Jones’ speech probably did the trick. It was frank but fair, and as someone contemplating the airlines down the road, I certainly appreciated the insights.
The CTS was about perspective in many ways, some of them much larger than our day-to-day routines and squadron life. At the conclusion of the first day, we had the privilege of hearing from CAPT Jack Ensch, USN (ret) and his wife, Kathy, about their experiences during his time as a POW in Vietnam. Suffice it to say, the account of his time in Vietnam and the shared experiences of his fellow POWs was nothing short of awe-inspiring. With all the cynicism and background noise in today’s society, it was simply refreshing as both a citizen and military officer to hear a candid talk from a true American hero such as CAPT Ensch. Sir, if you’re reading this post, thank you again.
Later that evening, the Air Boss hosted a social at his quarters across NAS North Island. Despite some very uncharacteristic San Diego drizzle, a giant tent in the back yard kept the party going. It was a nice way to wrap up the first day and continue the conversations over some good food and drink. The I-Bar staying open late was also a plus…
On the second day, the CTS also took on a personal development tone with guest speaker and head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Ron Rivera. At first I wasn’t sure which direction his talk was going to go, whether it was going to be completely football-centric, a focus on the athletes, the National Anthem controversy, or whatnot. A few minutes into his remarks, however, it was clear that his experiences and advice were really leadership lessons for coaching and leading people in a high-performing, professional
organization. His advice transcended any sport, and I suppose it makes sense. Naval Aviation has always been replete with sports psychology analogies, be it the “depth on the bench” (okay, baseball here) with the personnel in a squadron’s maintenance department, or aircrew ACTC qualifications approaching a deployment. Or perhaps the “be the ball” and “rules to live by” mantras when coming aboard during a night Case III recovery have parallels as well. Level 3 debriefs seem to be an embodiment of the Vince
Lombardi “Practice does not make perfect…. only perfect practice makes perfect” mentality; often to the chagrin of many JO aircrew. The list goes on, and Coach Rivera highlighted his career lessons learned in a great way.
Following lunch on the second day, a panel of nine Fleet department heads convened to take questions and share experiences freshly burned into their psyches. The discussion was open-ended and wide-ranging, from personal decision points in their respective careers to tips for JOs staring down the barrel of a DH tour.
Our final guest speaker and rounding out the symposium’s agenda was Rear Admiral Fillion, OPNAV N10/BUPERS-7, with a thought-provoking discussion on leadership and character. Admiral Fillion brought things way back to some old-school American leadership with a gift to all the attendees: a copy of Donald T. Phillips’ Lincoln on Leadership. I’m about half way through it myself and it does not disappoint.
To summarize the value of the inaugural CNAF Junior Officer Career Training Symposium, I have to circle back to something I submitted in my initial survey response as to what we are doing right in Naval Aviation. Being the author, I don’t mind sharing it here for any public release or criticism:
“As an organization, I believe our ability to self-assess, debrief, and provide honest feedback/criticism are some of our greatest strengths. I think we instill in one another a certain mental toughness, a thick- skinned attitude, and an affinity for constructive criticism. At the same time, we also value being our own harshest critic. We place a premium on self and process improvement. We prize personal development, as
its natural by-products are organizational success and mission effectiveness. It is refreshing to be in a Ready Room where no one is too proud to share mistakes, lessons learned, or what we can do better on the next mission. That type of professional humility is truly special, and I fear it may not be a characteristic as prevalent in the civilian world. Naval Aviation’s culture of professional honesty is what makes us lethal as a force, and what helps keep us safe. I hope I never take it for granted.”
In my view, the CTS was a manifestation of this. Canvas all the levels of leadership to find out what’s going on, what needs correction, take action, and be all the better for it. This approach is vitally important for senior leadership to understand the mental calculus that is influencing the present-day JO in his or her long-term career decisions: you have to know and appreciate the drivers that are keeping people in, and perhaps more importantly, the detractors making the case for an exit. Retention challenges won’t be solved overnight, but I think a willingness to listen and have a discussion is crucial, and it was great to see that at the CTS. My only advice to other JOs would be to send in the survey next year and make the trip… and San Diego isn’t bad either.
LT Jimmy “Two Times” Licata is a native of Mequon, WI. An EA-18G pilot by trade, he served with VAQ-136 prior to attending the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He is currently a test pilot at VX-23, Patuxent River, MD in all variants of the F/A-18 and EA-18G.
Comments