Photo By Lt.j.g. Evan Karanovich | NORFOLK, VA (Feb. 1, 2025) Capt. Matt Hawkins, Reserve chief of staff for Commander,...... read more read more
NAPLES, Italy - Forged by diverse and challenging opportunities throughout a 29-year Navy career, Capt. Matt Hawkins considers his current role as Reserve chief of staff (RCOS) for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) to be his most defining as he leads a force redesign amidst a surge in operations across both the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility.
“The events in the eastern Mediterranean were a catalyst for that,” said Hawkins about the motivation for change within NAVEUR-NAVAF/U.S. Sixth Fleet (C6F) reserve component.
Already tasked by the 2022 Navy Reserve Fighting Instructions to align reserve manpower to mobilization functions, the real-world events unfolding in the eastern Mediterranean Sea brought to light the necessity of a reorganization which included realigning NAVEUR-NAVAF and C6F into distinct commands at different echelons for both the active and reserve components.
For the reserve component, the alignment reflects a Navy-wide effort to better prepare reserve Sailors to support Maritime Operations Centers (MOCs) in the event of a crisis and the practical reality that NAVEUR-NAVAF and C6F will have different MOC requirements in the event of major operations.
“We were already updating our force design as the active component was realigning its staffs. So, we did it in tandem…and to a lot of people it just made sense,” said Hawkins.
As a native of Jacksonville, Florida, and third generation Sailor, Hawkins says a driving force to stay in the Navy has been the opportunity to take on diverse jobs and the people he has worked with over the years. After assuming duties as RCOS in February 2023 and starting the reorganization in January 2024, he credits much of the project’s success to be the hard work shown by his staff and different stakeholders.
“I did not do this force design in a vacuum, by myself, it was absolutely a whole of staff effort and there were some people that did some serious heavy lifting,” said Hawkins. He credits Capt. Grant Miller, Reserve information warfare lead, Capt. Kacey Lorson, logistics commanding officer (CO), and Capt. Kate Walker, his then Reserve Fleet Command Center (FCC) director, with providing critical inputs and coordination with their active duty counterparts along with the Reserve operational level of war (OLW) leadership to make the vision executable.
In order to grow the enterprise from 14 to 17 commands and 500 to 673 billets with Echelon II commands under NAVEUR-NAVAF and Echelon III commands under C6F, coordination was needed outside of these commands. Commander, Naval Reserve Forces Command (CNRFC) and various enlisted and officer communities had to be included in discussions to create commands and move, modify or add billets.
“What I didn’t initially fully understand was how many external stakeholders there were in the process,” commented Hawkins as he reflected on the process. As Hawkins and his staff dug deep into mobilization billets and structure of units, they encountered several more challenges.
One hurdle was realigning Navy and Amphibious Liaison Element (NALE) billets within Echelon II and III commands which required very defined roles and responsibilities that did not exist before.
Another challenge was communicating the importance of change and how it was going to happen to the 14 commanding officers of the original units who applied and were selected for a billet that would now be different. Whereas before units were designated to perform specific exercises, billets were consolidated into units to focus on specific MOC functions - the goal being to create efficiencies for training that will drive up warfighting readiness.
Although warfighting focused, the redesign didn’t lose sight of the warfighter. “As we were constructing the new force design and drawing boxes on pieces of paper - this is the C2 structure - this is where the units will be - we always kept in mind that there was a human aspect to this,” said Hawkins. “These changes will have real effects on individual Sailors because their jobs have changed. Their mobilization billets have changed.”
These types of challenges are not uncharted waters for Hawkins who hires contractors and handles personnel conflict resolution as a program manager at Serco, Inc., in his civilian career.
On Jan. 1, 2025, the roll out of the redesign went online with creation of new units and movement of several billets but work continues with outside stakeholders to finalize all the changes.
To make sure decisions for the force design are the right ones, Hawkins will get feedback from reserve commands, active component and leadership as reservists go forward for exercises and real-world support through the spring and summer.
Once feedback is received, the new design can be adjusted as needed. “Theoretically, we’re never done with force design because we are always assessing whether or not we are getting it right, we’re tweaking it and making changes,” said Hawkins.
When not busy with work for the Navy Reserve or as a civilian, Hawkins enjoys spending time with his wife, a retired P-3/P-8 naval flight officer, and two children. He also considers himself an ultra-runner when his joints and schedule allow him the opportunity.
As Hawkins looks back on the work it took for such large and defining project, he is hopeful this force design is just the beginning of a new chapter of warfighters. “I’m primarily focused on setting the table,” said Hawkins. “Getting the right manpower in place so that when we fill those billets with people, we have a structure in place to train them and optimize our warfighting readiness.”
NAVEUR-NAVAF and C6F, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conduct a full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with Allied and interagency partners to advance U.S. national interests, security and stability in Europe and Africa.
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.02.2025 12:27 |
| Story ID: | 489933 |
| Location: | IT |
| Hometown: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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