Benjamin Kohlmann’s Post

When the colors of the uniforms of all services are combined, you get the color purple. So, when performing my duties as the DoD Senior Military Fellow assigned to the U.S. Department of Veteran affairs, I advocate for all service components. Our service components are hugely complex organization constantly confronting discontinuous changes. So, who better to have a sit down with and gain perspective than the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC). SEAC Troy E. Black, is the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is the most Senior Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) position overall in the United States Armed Forces. We provided a deep dive of the Joint Executive Committee (JEC) and VA-DoD Collaboration efforts to include focus areas we will engaging thought-out this year. PACT Impacts on Claim Processing Timelines Bad Actor Targeting Transition Service Members (TSM) regarding Disability Claims GAO Report on Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Dual Compensation Reserve | Guard – Active Duty Pay Rules If you know the SEAC you can’t pay him a visit and not walk out with great perspective because he is a passionate leader who understand U.S. Military and Service Culture to include the “Call to Service” which plays a critical role in ensuring, we have a forced and ready Armed Force. #GoEarly,GoOften,

Last week I had the unique opportunity to attend a Change of Command Ceremony at Naval Air Station North Island (Coronado) for our little league team's first base coach...I mean, Commanding Officer Eli “Whiz” Owre of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 41 "Seahawks". While I got what I expected with a patriotic day, a seat in front of the largest American flag I’ve ever seen, and some great helicopter fly bys, what I didn't expect was the impactful course on leadership and the importance of authenticity from Captain Chris Richard. There was so much absorb and improve upon for myself, but I also feel it’s worth sharing for others striving to build “esprit de corps” in various organizations. Captain Richard shared six key bullet points based on his 36 years of leadership experience, along with insights on retention and value: 1.     Be yourself, and be forthright. Your people will forgive all manner of errors, but they will not forgive dishonesty. 2.     Bad news is not a fine wine. Get ahead of it and own the narrative. Being comfortable with accountability is a singular quality, and its universally admired. 3.     Commander’s guidance is hard to get right, so be the leader who people are comfortable asking for clarification. 4.     When chaos ensues, remain calm. Rage is insecurity turned outward. People are drawn to quiet confidence. 5.     Discipline willful negligence, but train to honest mistakes. Always be careful to sort which is which… 6.     People reach their potential only with feed-back. Those discussions can be hard, but you’re paid to have them. Be equally comfortable receiving feedback. “Retention is Commander’s business. It cannot be “fixed” or legislated by those in D.C. or Millington because people don’t quit commands… they quit bosses. They walk away from people who don’t make them feel valued or who take their sacrifices for granted. People at every level—I’m no exception—want to feel a sense of purpose, and that comes from the relationships we form in the workplace and the sense of worth fostered by our leadership. It’s the “esprit de corps” that’s found in a well-run organization led by people who care about those who serve it.” Thanks again for the invite, “Whiz”!

With the talk of potential Warrant Officers in the Air Force, I would instead offer the two-track enlisted promotion system (one favoring technical and one favoring enterprise leadership). Career Field Managers would dictate what percentage of top ranks would be allocated to each track, but the majority ought to be technical. An E-9 makes roughly the same as a W-3, so the pay is close at the top. The best part is this is executable since it does not require congressional action, so we can save political capital for other quality of life issues. #airforce #military

In 2018, the U.S. Navy issued an ambitious order to increase their fleet of ready F/A-18 strike fighters from 260 to 341 jets within one year, as almost half of them were down at any time. While this mandate fit the parameters of a SMART goal, many questioned its achievability. Moving beyond the default solution to always ask for more resources, the specific target of 341 ready jets within a year required a cultural shift. “Broad performance improvement and behavior changes must be inspired and led, not managed. Navy leaders devoted significant effort to the transformation and set a consistent tone emphasizing learning through collaborative problem-solving rather than assigning blame.” The teams conducted regular operating reviews designed for leaders to hold each other accountable. The discussion centered on learning and barrier removal. Leaders asked five questions: Where did we predict we would be now? Where are we actually? What did we learn from any gap between the two? What are the most consequential barriers to meeting the goal (and how do we know)? Who owns the decision rights on them? As “gap-closure plans” were refined, leaders had to simplify and streamline activity. “The tendency in many change initiatives is for everything new to be additive, overwhelming people and confusing priorities. Instead, leaders must reprioritize efforts based on what has been learned, allocating effort to the most consequential and reducing or eliminating lower-value activities." Contrary to almost all expectations, the Navy achieved and sustained its ambitious goal. #organizationaltransformation #changemanagement #cultureshift

Today begins the time honored tradition of Sailors embarking down the path of Chief Petty Officer Initiation. This process is arguably a time in an enlisted Sailor's career that will never be forgotten and relationships formed that will last a lifetime. For those who are not accustomed with our tradition, simple put: its very goal is to breakdown the men and women who walk through the doors on day one, put them to a rigorous process that will challenge them, stress them, and then reforge them into the leader that the Navy needs for what's looming over the horizon. As I enter my 18th year of molding the next generation of Chiefs, there are only two areas that I focus on: warfighting and heritage. As a military fighting force first, if we are not focused on preparing our leaders to handle the reality of what warfighting actually looks like (launching missiles, deploying boots on ground, or even just being able to navigate personal/personnel conflicts), then our failures tomorrow will be linked to our compliancy today. If we do not educate and place emphasis on our past (both victories and hard lessons learned), history has demonstrated that she loves to play the same record time and time again. This process also serves to reinvigorate those of us who have been in the Chief's Mess for some time. It's an opportunity to break from the norm, train the next generation, and reconnect with Goats in the retired Mess. The daily grind of being 'the Chief' is not sexy. Long hours, unplanned fires to put out, and being the group that is leaned on when things go sideways. BUT, the reward comes in seeing hard working Sailors climb the ranks, being able to help someone through a challenging issue, helping a family because it's the right thing to do, or simply sharing a great sea story with a Shipmate. I will miss this when my time comes to hang up my uniform for the last time but until that day, here's to another great season of making Chiefs. Cheers.

Special Operations has always been a small part of the total military force. The question the author should be asking is how many woman are applying to infantry, armor and artillery slots since these fields were opened to women. These career field are much larger than those in Special Operations and would better reflect the total number of women in combat arms positions. My guess is that the number of women in combats arms positions is still exceptionally small. https://lnkd.in/e7dvqpbQ

Throughout my career, having been exposed to military trained personnel, both as colleagues and friends, I endeavoured to learn from their experiences and how these have shaped them post military. In my career I have supported pushing decisions to those on the business frontline. Akin to the strategic corporal concept. This article helps to provide a greater insight into the methodology.

Something to think about

After “Hooah”, the worst sound in the US Army, is “all we need is a CONOP”. The problem isn’t CONOPs aren’t extremely useful as a summary. It’s lazy & incompetent officers unable to write coherent OPORDs using CONOPs as a crutch.   If a unit plainly has their excrement together & is operating coherently, I’d be open to using CONOPs for routine events. Yet the last competent OPORD I read in the United States Army Reserve was in an #Aviation unit.   Is a full-blown OPORD indispensable for a routine weapons range? No. Running a zero/qual range is pretty simple & can be thrown together. Provided nothing major goes wrong, it will probably succeed with great misery to all involved.   Yet I would argue taking #Planning seriously by utilizing #Training events as forcing functions to train on planning & OPORDs, or to get really wild, give junior officers tangible #Leadership experience; is what differentiates #Leaders from uniformed bureaucrats & #Military units from #Government #Jobs programs. Over time such ineptitude poisons entire commands.   I’ve seen many disasters over the last 20 years in the #Army. Yet never have I stood in such sincere wonder, as at last year’s Warfighter at Ft. Cavazos. Given how much “leaders” hyped the event, I figured USACAPOC's bureaucrats would be aroused from their Rip Van Winkle intellectual slumber to write a serious BDE-level Annex K (CA OPORD).   Yet reading the actual Annex K, my reaction was similar to the shock I’d get attending a wedding where the groom’s parents interrupt the vows to announce they’re swingers. As cynical as I am, even I couldn’t believe the garbage before my eyes.   Like a Tower of Babel reaching for the heavens of mediocracy, it towered above pedestrian ineptitude into flat-out dereliction of duty. While mostly copy & pasted from the 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Army's OPORD; the original parts, were clearly written by clowns who had spent their military experience learning the art of clowncraft from other clowns in a grand clown show, with ineptitude as their watchword.   The poor trees of Killeen deserved an apology for wasting the oxygen they labored so hard to produce.   The reality is that most (but certainly not all) mangers in the USAR seem only to yearn for the tedious pop & circumstance of change of command ceremonies, BS awards, fantasy OER bullets, Veterans Day meals at Applebee's & delusions of #Power as sycophants vie for daddy’s affection to summit the greased pole.   What is clear is they’re not at all interested in leading or training Soldiers, upholding standards, cultivating technical & tactical competence, or developing subordinates into capable leaders. This stems from many causes, but it mostly comes down to them not having any useful or relevant knowledge in those topics themselves.   Like the trees of Killeen, the American taxpayer deserves an apology from the USAR for squandering their tax dollars.   As I love to rant, excellence is a willful choice, as is incompetence.

This message is for any military ground operations professional wondering if they have what it takes to succeed in the civilian workforce. For years, I’ve heard the argument that serving in the infantry doesn’t provide skills that translate to the civilian workforce. If I could go back to the day I enlisted in the infantry, I wouldn’t change a thing. Infantry leaders may not leave with technical skills directly applicable to industry, but they develop an invaluable strategic mindset. I remember being a 20 year old squad leader tasked with missions that went like this: “Secure position X. Move your 12-man squad from point A to point B within 45 minutes, adhering to these boundaries. Your main constraint is time; use your judgment to navigate this challenge.” At a young age, we learned to think strategically, understand goals, and devise plans to achieve them. Applying this mindset to business is straightforward—once you grasp the specific limitations and operating principles of your industry, the problem-solving skills are already there. Imagine this: after a few of years leading in the infantry, you step into a manufacturing role. You’re given a challenge: “Transform these raw materials into finished products and ensure they reach the customer within a specific timeframe. Here are your resources, their capabilities, and limitations.” The mission may have changed, but the approach remains the same. Assess the situation, devise a strategic plan, and execute with precision. The infantry taught us to lead with clarity and decisiveness, skills that seamlessly translate into driving operational excellence in any environment.