By Mr. Steve Martinez, Director of Operations, CJSL
After a hiatus in 2018, the annual Joint Logistics Faculty Development Workshop (JLFDW) was held recently to reinvigorate productive discussions for the improvement of logistics instruction throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) and graduate institutions. The 3-day event hosted by the Center for Joint & Strategic Logistics (CJSL) at Fort McNair, Washington DC, brought together faculty, instructors, staff and other experts representing the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and multiple DoD agencies. This year’s theme focused on the need to transform the Joint Logistics Enterprise (JLEnt) and how that should inform the education & training of future DoD logistics leaders.
Attendees heard the perspectives of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, Honorable Robert McMahon, and the Joint Staff Vice Director for Logistics, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, regarding the challenges facing the JLEnt as it prepares to address the focus areas identified in the National Defense Strategy. In addition, participants listened to renowned speaker Dr. Anthony Scriffignano, Senior Vice President & Chief Data Scientist for Dun & Bradstreet, offer his thoughts on the impact of Digital Age advancements on decision-making. To promote in-depth discussion on that topic, a panel of experts provided their insights on leveraging advanced data capabilities in their respective organizations. The “Analytics to Transform DoD Logistics” panel members were: Dr. Scriffignano; Mr. Bruce Busler, Director, Joint Deployment & Distribution Process Analysis Center, U.S. Transportation Command; Mr. Wade Shen, Program Manager, Information Innovation Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Mr. Thomas Meyer, Chief, Analytics Center of Excellence, Defense Logistics Agency; and U.S. Air Force Major Jason Freels, Associate Professor, Air Force Institute of Technology.
This workshop also included sharing of information intended to expand the assembled faculty members’ skills and resources. Sessions on “Logistics Profession & Stewardship,” “The Design Movement in National Security,” and the use of in-class exercises to enhance student learning highlighted key issues and elicited thought-provoking dialogue. The final day focused on advancing the research process through which a “win-win” between the identification and investigation of topics relevant to improving the JLEnt and the effective development of students through experiencing the scientific method can be achieved.
Mr. Larry Jackson, Director of CJSL, noted, “Although our thought process going into this year’s workshop was that it would be a ‘rebuilding year,’ we were pleased to hear that most of the attendees thought it was a very valuable experience.” He went on to say that “…by improving next year’s workshop based on some of the suggestions we received and then letting word of mouth highlight its value, I’m confident the 2020 JLFDW will be an event you won’t want to miss!”
For more information about the JLFDW, CJSL, or DoD logistics, visit http://cjsl.ndu.edu