Photo By Christy Graham | Forging New Leaders course graduates stand with Bobbie Parks (left), workforce...... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. — Twelve garrison civilians completed Fort Polk’s premier Forging New Leaders program, and Col. Ryan K. Roseberry celebrated their accomplishment at a graduation ceremony hosted Oct. 30.
Roseberry opened the ceremony by praising the graduates. “All of you have shown a commitment to be a part of this course, to advance yourself, to further your career and to show that you want to become more,” he said.
Noting the importance of investing in employees, Roseberry said, “We want you to develop. We want to instill ingenuity, creativity and initiative.”
Bobbie Parks, Directorate of Human Resources, workforce development officer, said, “Nobody spends as much time as Fort Polk does in developing and investing in our workforce.”
Across the program’s 10-month timeline, graduates log more than 180 hours of classroom instruction, which includes team projects; academic studies, readings and presentations; and 14 directorate briefs and tours focusing on Fort Polk’s major services and functions, said Parks.
“This allows students to understand the intricacies of supporting the garrison and how each director plays a major role in helping the garrison support our warfighters,” Parks said.
The course first covers “core competencies,” which includes the Army Design Methodology and the Military Decision Making Process, said Parks.
Including MDMP is what sets Fort Polk’s FNL course apart from other installation FNL programs.
“This instruction is key to training Army civilians, that are experts in their field, in becoming experts at operationalizing their projects, concepts and events to better nest with their uniformed counterparts and present them successfully to the commander for approval,” he said.
“These skills are also necessary to assemble and analyze a project that the garrison commander and directorates need to solve complex issues on the installation.”
Garrison issues are presented to the class, which is broken down into teams, “and that (issue) will be the navigating thread throughout the entire program,” said Parks. The course culminates in the teams briefing their proposed solutions to the commander.
“The installation gets a win-win; employees receive critical leadership development and then they deliver actionable solutions for the garrison,” he said.
Moving forward, Parks said that the garrison is executing its first four-year contract for the course, as it is now fully developed. “We did an initial three-year pilot program, and each year we worked out the bugs. This year we dealt with COVID-19, hurricanes and tornadoes, but it was still successful.”
During his remarks, Roseberry told the graduates that they have “marked (themselves) as people who will go above and beyond.”
“We look for those individuals to put them in peak positions around the installation.”
Recent FNL graduate Kelly Buterbaugh, secretary, said, “This was an excellent course where I gained new experiences and knowledge to apply in the workplace. The instructors were phenomenal as were my fellow classmates, and I’d highly recommend anyone considering this course to apply for the next class.”
According to Parks, applications for the upcoming FNL course will be accepted between Nov. 16 and Dec. 18 — the next course is set to begin in January. If you are interested in taking the course, or if you have any questions, please contact Bobbie Parks at 531-1102.
| Date Taken: | 11.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2020 11:49 |
| Story ID: | 382656 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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