Good morning and thank you for coming along today and for those who are on the video, the video streaming This is a new trial for us to communicate with people in the field in an effective and efficient way I'm here at Fiskfield today And we want to give you a briefing on the current state of play with a number of important changes Which are occurring within CFA. I think at the outset I'd like to welcome you all and Thank you for your time We're going to have a number of presentations first of all from the acting CEO Michael Wooten that I'll move into a presentation which is probably going to focus more on the field implementation And and the current phase we're in That might take some time We want to go into a fair bit of detail and then we'll pause around about 10 to 11 and the intent of that pause Will be to take on board questions from the field Understand with the notification of this webinar that there's a link that you can ask questions online We'll then analyze those questions and then come back at around about 11 o'clock So that we can give an online response to those questions I guess at the outset we may not better answer all those questions, but at least we're starting a process of Dialogue to address those questions that you have So without any further ado I'd call on Michael Wooten who is the acting chief executive officer just to say a few words. Thank you Michael Good morning, everyone. Thank you Ewan and thank you everybody for joining us My purpose really today as you indicated is to give a general overview Of where we are in the organizational change program and talk a little bit in detail about where some of the different teams have Reached in terms of their consultation and then you and we'll go into a fair bit more detail around fire and emergency management It seems that creating our future together and coughed have been going on forever the organizational change process actually started in 2011 and And I suppose it's important just to remind people that creating a future together is more than just a change of organizational structure It's about looking at our business processes our systems our operating models who our customers are what are the services that we deliver? So structure is part of that, but there are a number of other elements to the change program It's important to understand from the CFA boards point of view that they certainly hold the chief executive officer accountable for delivery of the creating our future together program and Mick although he's on leave Clearly is the leader of the process and the leader of the organization And he relies on his executive leadership team to support him in the delivery of that program and you and I are obviously key parts Of that executive leadership team along with our other executive director colleagues The reason for change is about making sure that CFA is as agile and efficient and adaptable as possible Our goals to create designs which enable our frontline people to focus on delivering services to the Victorian community Our support services have undertaken a co-design process And I'll talk a little bit about where they're at with those and they've given members the opportunity to share some of their ideas And that's a process that's still ongoing ELT's also undertaken a harmonization process to look at each of the designs and make sure they actually fit together And that also is part of that consultation process and things can't be finalized until those two elements have been concluded When we started the change process there are key 11 principles of COF that we had to take into consideration and we agreed would guide us and I won't go through all those today But there's a couple I think that are really important and we just need to remind ourselves of The allocation of resources is to be determined on a risk and needs basis Where possible resources will be mobile and boundaryless So there we're talking about having people where we need them to deliver services to the community To our members, to our volunteers, to our brigades And that resources will be aligned to the allocation of responsibility and accountability As I said, we're in a process of consultation for many of the designs, others are due to start And I think it's important just to talk a little bit about what consultation is It's about providing people with the opportunity to ask questions And provide feedback about proposed designs and structure prior to final decisions being taken Support services teams are already engaged in that process Talking to staff, talking to our volunteers and members And for those support services to work and for central coordination to work Which is what is proposed in some cases We need to have conversations about that now but also on an ongoing basis To make sure that what we propose and finalize actually works as we move forward In terms of consultation and where we are The people and culture team have been consulting And their consultation formally closed yesterday So what happens with that one now is that Fran Boyd and her team will take on board the feedback And suggestions they've received prior to coming up with a finalized design The performance and strategy teams consultation closes Towards the end of next week or the beginning of the week after In business services, my own team, some changes have already been made And been consulted upon, so the changes to asset maintenance coordinators And the protective equipment team reporting to technical asset services Have been consulted, concluded and implemented And business services consultation is occurring now in relation to Most other parts of that team and will close in October And the operational training and volunteerism and communities and communications teams Will commence their consultation next week And probably people would be aware that some of the proposals in there are around Embedding certain services in OT and V, and clearly Lex Deman Is the exact director of that team, is leading that consultation process On that proposed design Some of the key design features that we're looking at in terms of our consultation We're talking about resources being mobile and not defined by artificial boundaries We've alluded to that earlier. Over time we expect that brigades will see Advantages in flexibility of service delivery Increased expertise and knowledge from specialist resources And much greater service at the front line, so focusing very much on district There will be different solutions for different services So we're not locked into a particular mode of service delivery for our support services They'll be delivered in a range of ways Known and easy for members to access by using technology By phone, by face-to-face means There'll be a focus on developing self-service facilities Which will increase accessibility and empower members In many places self-service now is considered better practice We use it every day in our daily lives, online banking, online shopping Apps, those sort of things, so we need to take advantage of both of That flexibility but of the fact that many, many more people in the community Use those channels today When consultation closes, leadership teams will consider and work through The feedback, the thoughts and the suggestions and finalised designs So that'll happen over the next month or two And then we'll start to think about what does transition look like And it'll be about transitioning people to new ways of working Between people and roles We plan to progressively implement the proposed changes to ensure we get the model right And to minimise disruption to our core business So in October we're heading into a fire season Obviously our critical core business needs to be at the forefront of our thinking But we can also do some design work in the background while that occurs For support services teams in particular we expect to be well advanced By the end of the calendar year, December 2014 But we do realise that's a tight timeline But we're still working towards that date We expect the initial process of transitioning people And processes to the new way of working will take some time to implement So we're not talking here about turning a tap off or turning a new tap on There's a lot of work to occur and it'll be done progressively And with our people All our employees will have meaningful work to do And that's a key element people need to bear in mind So that covers the brief information that I wanted to provide And I'll hand it back to you now and then we'll hopefully enjoy some questions later on in the presentation Thanks, John Thank you, Michael And again, just to reinforce This is a trial of a new form of communication Certainly I as Chief Officer and the Executive Team Have both from our individual travels But also from some of the feedback we've had from the Culture Survey Have taken on board that there is a need for a more comprehensive And systematic way of communicating to the field So this is an experiment and we'd be interested in your feedback As to how well this type of communication occurs But from our point of view We see that there may be a need for the next two or three months To have a similar communication perhaps a little bit shorter Every couple of weeks I guess I just want to also reflect on Some feedback we've had about why is this taking so long And also probably some feedback about why is fine emergency management Seeming to be a little bit slower than other directorates We need to reflect on the fact that we had a really busy fire season Probably one of the more challenging fire seasons that we've had Since Black Saturday And it was characterised by the Hazelwood Mine fire That started on the 9th of February That consumed a significant number of resources Both during the fire and immediately afterwards We've recently seen the Hazelwood Mine fire Board of Inquiry report back And one of the quotes that came out of that Was that CFA members went above and beyond What was expected of them So CFA and the fire agencies were treated very well In the analysis by the Hazelwood Mine board of inquiry And I think that's a real credit to us But in doing so That set fire and emergency management And other parts of the organisation behind our schedule For creating our future together So I don't want to make any apology for that As Michael has said Provision of our frontline service delivery And acting our mission of protecting lives and property Comes first at all times But it has set our timeframe back More than what we would have liked So the purpose today is to do a couple of things The first is to acknowledge that from today The 2nd of October We are now moving from eight Fair Victoria regions To the new five region model That has been articulated over the last few months We also want to formally welcome And introduce assistant chief officers As being the most senior CFA person In each of those five regions We want to introduce The regional integration and transition program Which for fire and emergency management Is the next phase of creating our future together I want to acknowledge the uncertainty Which is out there And I want to also, as Michael has done Reaffirm that we are firmly focused On delivering our frontline services And in particular preparing for The forthcoming fire season Which looks as though it might be coming on A little bit earlier So I'm going to run through those things In a little bit more detail now The first is to acknowledge that today Is the start of a new era And the end of a former era As we move into the new five region model The five assistant chief officers Who have been recruited, selected And actually commenced an induction program About three weeks ago They commenced today And they are the most senior CFA person In the five regions They are also the most senior operational representative Out in the field within their region And they perform a quite different role To the regional directors They'll be active and visible leaders They will assume control And overarching control of our response activities They'll also be accountable For our service delivery within the regions And they may also pick up responsibility For a number of corporate priorities In our corporate plan Today also marks the commencement Of a new fire and emergency management Leadership team So the chief officer The deputy chief officers Executive manager, community capability My officer, the chief officer And the five ACOs Will form the fire and emergency management Leadership team And this will link me as chief officer Through the deputy chiefs And headquarters More directly to the field And provide a clear chain of command Where previously it wasn't clear Through the regional commanders And the regional directors I want to make it clear That the role of the assistant chief officer Is a new role It's different to the previous regional director role But it would be appropriate just to pause here And pay tribute to the regional directors Over the years And the former arrangements And to acknowledge the critical role That regions and regional directors And the former regional teams have played In delivering a wide range of programs To the community for and on behalf of CFA I'd like to take this moment To acknowledge that very significant role To thank you To recognise and express our gratitude For the way in which people have approached that role But also acknowledge that we are now Saying goodbye to a particular era in CFA And moving into a new era I'd like to reinforce the need for change Why are we doing this? And essentially we're moving into A new implementation phase That recognises that we've got to do our business Differently into the future Because of a number of external factors And environmental factors I guess the first is that Government and the community Are changing in their expectations of CFA And the emergency management sector I guess one example of that Is that in the last couple of years We've seen the introduction of a fire services levy And whilst you might not think that's changed a lot It has certainly changed the expectations in government In how we deliver services And how we are able to demonstrate Value for money and public value We're also moving into a new era Where the minister and the government are saying That no longer is it acceptable That emergency services duplicate service delivery No longer is it acceptable That each emergency service Does the same thing independently They're wanting emergency services to be joined up To be effective, to be efficient There's no overlap and no gaps between the agencies They're expecting a cooperative approach Multic agencies working together Interoperability and us working together In a multi-hazard environment And Craig Lapsley, the emergency management commissioner And the state control team Reinforce that in what we do Which is protecting the community We work as one But importantly We want to extend that ethos of working as one From not just applying to our frontline service delivery But our broader service delivery And also our support to our frontline people We've seen over the last couple of months Some significant changes In the emergency management sector With the formation of emergency management Victoria The appointment of Craig as the emergency management commissioner And Neil Robertson as the chief executive Of emergency management Victoria EMV are appointing a new executive structure That will make it clearer as to what their role is And what the emergency services role is And we welcome this new era And we go forward confident that we can deliver A greater accountability to both the minister And to the public We also operate in uncertain times And one of the greatest uncertainties Is about future revenues coming into government Government quite rightly are saying That we provide money to agencies such as CFA For specific projects We expect those projects to be implemented on time And within budget and delivering on the core expectations Of government for that funding They are expecting a return on their investment In the fire services And they are expecting maintenance of public value We also operate in an environment Where changes in the geopolitical environment Severe weather And as we've recently seen changes in the security environment Are driving us in a particular direction That we need to respond to CFA and Victoria are not alone in these challenges We're seeing changes occurring in other government departments And we work very closely for example With the department of environment and primary industries And they are also making changes at a corporate level At a service delivery level and out in the field But we're also seeing changes occurring In the structure of fire and a basic service delivery Within Australia and overseas And just to quote a couple of examples There are significant changes Have occurred recently in Queensland And in WA We're seeing more change for Shadowed In South Australia And also in some of our sister services In the United States When we look overseas in Canada The United States, the United Kingdom Parts of Europe We also see examples of significant change In service delivery So we are not alone in moving to a more agile Accountable, effective and efficient framework For service delivery We're proud of CFA today And what we are Being proud of where we are And recognising the history of the organisation It's important that we shouldn't be complacent We do need to move forward with the times And we must look ahead and shape ourselves As Michael said So that we can be agile and responsive To the needs of the community And also to our volunteers Our frontline career staff And our members generally We must strive to be sustainable Effective, efficient And to create real public value And to introduce an ethos Of continuous improvement And it's in that vein That we move to this new phase Which is the regional integration And transition program This next phase will be formed To implement final multi-management changes Both centrally in headquarters And to those who provide support services And also out in the fields It's important that as Michael has outlined We recognise that changes in final multi-management Aren't done alone And again one of the reasons why Fire and a multi-management is at the stage We're at at the moment Is that it was important that some of the support Service directorates clarified The way in which they intended to deliver Those support services out into the field Before final multi-management Started shaping our new structure And our proposals for the future I want to reinforce CFA's support To our volunteers, to our career staff To our brigades, our staff in fire stations To our groups And along with our service delivery To the Victorian community That will continue to remain Our focus during this next journey And phase of change And that might mean that There are periods when the change journey Is interrupted and goes more slowly And it's important that we recognise At the outset that the timeframes For our implementation And even our consultation May be extended because of our operational environment There are four main themes To the regional integration And transition program The first is integrating and moving From the eight fairer Victoria regions To the new five regions that CFA has articulated Today's signal is to start Of those new five regions But necessarily there'll be A suite of processes and systems That now need to change To implement that decision Secondly, to operationalise The embedded model of support service delivery Into the regions and districts And as Michael has articulated We're at different stages With some of those support service arrangements Many are at the consultation phase When consultation has been completed That needs to come back to the executive team To endorse that model Which would then be implemented The third main theme here Is to implement the new Business planning and operating model Into regions and districts And that includes moving to Some new structures in those locations And the fourth theme Is supporting future changes Which we need to make At a regional and district level So again I want to reinforce That the phase we're in In the regional integration and transition program Isn't going to be achieved overnight To coin the phrase We're talking about an evolutionary change Not a revolutionary change I also want to reinforce that We're not proposing that there be People losing their positions out of this There might be changes to jobs And job descriptions There are likely to be changes In reporting relationships and structures That will be undertaken after consultation And taking on board your thoughts, Advice and concerns You might not recognise it But much of this change And the seeds for this change Has already been sown And the regional integration and transition program Is one new phase Of a broader change Approached in CFA And some examples I can give you Of change which is already well on the way To implementation is the new Brigade member and classification project We've also seen the brigade sustainability Pilot program Which is another example Of providing support in a different way To our brigades And in particular our volunteer members The commander control The role of the group program Which has been going now for about three years And shortly there will be a publication Issued on local commander control Which again is an important definition Of the role of the group And local commander control in CFA And how that relates to the line of control In the state bushfire control arrangements Through the work of people like John Haines and Meg Lowe We've seen the development Of a service delivery model And through the CFA board Who have established a service delivery committee We are working on the development Of a service delivery strategy That's an important bit of work Which will take a bit of work We did about six months ago On the chief officer's capability And priority statement Bring that into the broader CFA strategic planning model As identified in the service delivery model CFA's Sorry, fine emergency management Future structure will be underpinned By a number of things that we currently know The first is brigades and groups Will continue to be The core structure For delivering front line emergency services We know the front line For community capability building activities Based on risk and partnering with the communities And I want to recognise the tremendous work That our communities and communications team And our community capability teams Have been doing over the last three or four years And that's been no better exemplified Than the annual community engagement forum Which has grown from four years ago I think around about 80 brigades To the most recent forum earlier this year Where we saw over 400 brigades Were represented at this year's forum So that's a brigade and group level The districts And I want to again reaffirm That we have continued With essentially the same number of districts That we've had historically The exception there is that the government Have recently announced the formation of a new district In and around the city of Latrobe Which we're calling district 27 That will be a new project That we're starting work on But the role of the district will be to lead, manage And support CFA members Through brigades, groups, fire stations To ensure effective service delivery To our communities and in turn Turning the emergency management policy Of our business plans into action on the ground So it's a critical role in linking Our planning to actions on the ground At the regional level We see the regions will focus On strategic leadership, management oversight And in particular oversight of the implementation Of the CFA strategic plan And the final basic management service delivery strategy As I said, that's in process at the moment But we see one of the key accountability Of the assistant chief officers Will be implementing the CFA corporate plan And that service delivery strategy They will also coordinate and enable Service delivery from the districts To provide regional command And to, with our emergency management partners Support the line of control at regional level And then at the state level The role again is strategic leadership At a state level, governance of CFA service delivery Oversight and implementation again Of the CFA business plan Which includes a number of new initiatives And business as usual activities To lead, inform and partner In the emergency management sector And I have to say that With the emergence of emergency management Victoria A significant proportion of my time And my deputy's time And the executive time Is being spent in interfacing And dealing with that emergency management sector Also in exercising state command Through the deputy chief officers And exercising statewide Command and control through the line of control And the state control centre So again to reinforce Our structure Service delivery at the brigade group And fire station level The districts lead and manage support For our frontline people Regional level is to provide oversight Of the implementation of our plans And governance and regional command And at state level Strategic leadership, governance And interoperability With the emergency management sector A really important change That we want to reinforce Is the role of the regional At the district operations manager The district operations manager Has always been the OIC of the district But we've seen that had Been watering down that role For the last couple of years So I want to reinforce that The district operations manager Is the officer in charge of the district And CFA service delivery to the field And support services being provided To our people in the field Will be delivered either through Or by the district operations manager So I just want to reinforce The importance of that role And thank the operations managers For the role that they've always provided But thank them for stepping up to the plate As we've seen in the last few months The district operations manager Will be accountable for managing And supervising district resources Including the budget for service delivery Within their district And supporting their brigades and groups In the discharge of the mission of CFA In our consultation with you Will be proposing that districts Will have a consistent resource allocation model So there'll be a base model That each district would have In terms of the structure and the functions and roles But we're saying that the base model May change and is scalable From one district to another Depending on the risk and needs Within the district And that's part of the consultation process Which will come from here on That we'll be negotiating with district And regional assistant chief officers About what level of resources Will be required in each district Embedded resources Are providing support services Through groups, brigades and members And will work through Either the district operations manager Or the operations officer Responsible for that catchment So again, I want to reinforce The importance of those support services Which flow on to our front line members Is done through the operations manager Or the operations officer I guess we'll know when we're successful When we look at ourselves And we tick the box and say We are capable, competent And we're committed We feel empowered, valued and unified The community is saying And the government is saying That we're trusted and respected And that we can assure ourselves Independently and from our own analysis That we're providing sustainable Performance-focused services To the community And also that we're positioning ourselves And our systems of work So that we're agile, can anticipate And react to change as we see Occur from time to time In moving forward I want to acknowledge that Like any change, there is uncertainty About the future Many of you will have questions About what it means for you As an individual employee of CFA I do appreciate that this is A frustrating time for you I know that you are wanting to know Why it's taking so long And you're wanting us to just get on with it I acknowledge that it's causing Many of you anxiety And that you want to have certainty And implement this change As rapidly as possible But in doing so It's important that we move To a new structure and new arrangements In concert with the representative bodies That we consult with you And take on board your ideas And that we get it right We don't want to revisit this change We want to get it right And make sure that as we implement change It doesn't risk our service delivery To the field And doesn't risk our preparedness For the summer But we do this once And we do it well So that means that we'll be continuing To do this in a cautious and careful manner There will be changes Which affect you and I And fire and emergency management people And there will be also changes Across CFA And so I want to say in moving forward There will continue to be Some level of uncertainty amongst staff As I said earlier on We have also taken on board The need for more regular And more direct communication We're a large and complex organisation We're hoping that this style of communication Will be the start of Similar video casts And podcasts that we can offer you To improve that direct communication I appreciate that many other directorates Have already started their briefing process But also I want to appreciate that Fire and emergency management Is a large part of CFA We're well distributed across The whole of Victoria And it's a difficult part of the organisation To get a message out to quickly and efficiently So I'm hoping that this methodology Will be successful Some members will learn That their reporting line And their current position May change with aligning To the new supporting arrangements Through other directorates You'll be learning that through The consultation process And you'll be learning that when Especially the consultation process Mick and the executive team Make decisions to then Implement those changes Regardless of which directorate Is involved You may find yourself Staying within Fire and emergency management Or transitioning to A new directorate We want to reinforce that We act as one CFA Focused on our mission To protect our community And to protect lives and property That should be a single Binding unifying statement That we are all together Focused on serving the community Focused on a mission Protecting lives and property And whether we're frontline Deliverers of service to the community Or we're supporting that frontline Or we're further up the line Of control or chain of command Or we're providing support services What you do is important to CFA And it's important in the achievement Of that overall mission Today I hope that there'll be a number of questions And I'm sure there will be And we'll get back to those questions A little bit later on We may not better answer All of those questions today Those questions we can't answer We'll take back and we'll get back to you Perhaps in the next webinar Or certainly in hard copy The change again will be a gradual process I want to reinforce that it's more Going to be an evolution, not revolution We are committed to engaging Consulting and taking on feedback Through that process You'll notice over the next couple of months That we'll take account As I've said before Of the fire season And our service delivery to the community And again it's really important That we don't lose sight On what the main thing is And what we're here for Our priority will be focused On the upcoming fire season And we've made very clear To the assistant chief officers And shortly to the operations managers And to our incident management personnel That the focus must be On preparedness and redness For the fire season As we speak Pre-season briefings Are occurring throughout the state That's not just for operational personnel Through our community safety teams Our CFA support staff Who play important roles Supporting our district emergency command centres Supporting our brigades and groups And supporting our incident management teams It's also important that we recognise That there are a number of classes Of CFA people who are on short term contracts And we are acutely aware of this We have had some recent analysis done And some figures that the acting CO and I With some of the change team Have been analysing over the last 24 hours And can I just say that There are a number of projects Which continue to make Our employment arrangements To some people quite complex And we've seen some people acting into roles And then that creates a vacancy And other people acting to their role And other people acting to that role And we sometimes see Because of one person taking on a new role In a bushfires program Or one of the new initiatives That leads to up to five positions then cascading And those positions are all on short term contracts We are also acutely aware That a number of those people People we depend on for the fire season And the importance of that role We're not able to make any definitive statement About that today Except to say that we are looking At trying to confirm those roles Over the fire season And we're analysing that detail And ELT will be making decisions Over the next couple of weeks And those of you who are on fixed term contracts We want to remove as much of that uncertainty As we can I want to reinforce that Through the chain of command Your operations officer Operations manager And the assistant chief officer If you've got queries Then you shouldn't hesitate to raise The query with them If they can't answer the question Then they'll pass it up And we'll attempt to address the question I know I've said this But we want to close by Reinforcing that we are on the cusp Of the new fire season We saw on Sunday elevated temperatures And strong winds We've seen a very much Dry than average rainfall Across much of the state Over the last 12 months And in particular over August And September For many of us The focus now needs to be On preparing for And responding to the fire season I appreciate There's a bit of a double edged sword here Because in moving forward We want to try and bring certainty And clarity on structure and process As quickly as we can But I want to also acknowledge that In moving forward There may be interruptions and delays Because of the fire season This is part of our business It's just something that we need To acknowledge the criticality Of the work that we do And again reinforce that We will do the best we can To hasten this change But our service delivery Takes priority I feel very fortunate to be The leader of a highly capable Highly committed team of people Who deliver services to the Victorian community Critical services 24 hours a day 365 days a year We need to remain focused On our mission And I want to remain steadfast In my appreciation For what you do For CFA and for the community We as an organisation And with our emergency management Partners Do critical work in the community And we see almost on a daily basis The life and death consequences Of the work that we do And on many occasions We don't read about it in the newspaper Because of the very effective And efficient work that we do In engaging with the community Minimising and mitigating risk And suppressing and responding To emergencies as they occur It is an exciting phase in CFA We are moving forward The assistant chief officers Are a key part of that new direction And the change process Reaches a particular chapter today But it will continue on Into the future The establishment of regional change teams Which will be a critical element Of moving forward at a regional level Will be very important to assist With the consultation process And to take on board your suggestions Region by region and district by district About how we should shape ourselves And deliver our services into the future I just want to close If I may on some reflection On some of the really important things Which continue to occur within the organisation We've recently seen the government Announce some additional funding On plan burning And that's a project that has been running A pilot project for the last couple of years And the government has recognised that In a partnership with Deputy And saying that such good work And they want to see it extended Last night I had dinner with the Recruit Course 3 of 2014 We've currently got four and a bit Recruit courses for 2014 And there's both through the recruitment The selection and the running of those Recruit courses, really important In building our capability, meeting Our obligations in project 2016 Through project 2016 We're seeing new fire station And staffing at Paknam At Ocean Grove, we're seeing new Fire stations at Portland, South Wurrung South Warrendite and Warnable And that project continues to mature We're seeing great work with The volunteer support program In a particular, the Brigade State Ability Pilot The fire season briefings Don't just happen And that's a really important part Of our sector leadership for the Next fire season The community capability team Formulating their targeted Service delivery to the communities We're seeing Work commencing With the Victorian Farmers Federation And the VFBV A voluntary grain harvesting Code of practice We're seeing specialist appliances In heavy hazmats Aerial pumpers And MCVs Being brought online and in service In a number of locations We're seeing Work occurring on the Formation of District 27 In the Latray Valley Implementing the recommendations From the Hazelwood Board Review The regional radio dispatch system Which has been a major transformation Of our radio communication Dispatch communications outside The metropolitan area We're seeing prototype Appliances being built up For medium pumpers, for heavy Tankers And also a BA van And we continue To work with VFBV On introduction Of a new uniform So that the whole of CFA has a consistent Look. So that's just a snapshot Of some of the Really important work Which continues on out there As we prepare for the fire season And we move forward In the regional integration And transition program Thank you for being here today at Fiskville And for tuning in To this webinar Very much appreciate your time Very soon. Thank you.


It is now my honor to introduce the 38th Commodant of the Marine Corps and a friend to our college, General David Berger. Good morning. First, thanks to Admiral for inviting me back to speak with you all today. I was getting ready for the comments today for the remarks I thought about the subjects and the theme for this year, what I might want to talk about, what you might want to hear. So I looked at the schedule right here for the forum over the last couple of days, and I saw on there that you've already, I believe, heard from the Secretary of the Navy and the CNO and also heard from a brilliant professor from Johns Hopkins, which was a school that I was fortunate enough to attend as a student. So my thinking first was, you already heard from my boss, you already heard from my teachers, so we might as well just go straight into Q&A. But I'm, of course, just kidding. So that took me back a little bit further in 10 years ago or nine years ago. I look at the schedule here and I find Dr. Brands again. So here's my learning there just to pass on to you. If Dr. Brands was part of a panel in 2014, not the moderator, just on a panel. And then by this year, now he's a featured keynote address speaker. But I think that's a great progression. But I think after you're a keynote speaker, you probably get put out to pasture like an old cow or a horse. So I think the good part of going last where I am in this batting order is that none of my esteemed colleagues can really call me out if I say something wrong. But I'm also not going to tread old ground that they've already covered. So I thought I would talk about something that may actually surprise you a bit. And that's people. And more specifically, I'm going to talk about our people. And I'm talking about Americans and service members, civilian leaders who serve and why the quality of their training, their leadership and most of all what they stand for. Why is that set them apart from any other nation in the world in my opinion? They are different. We are different, plain and simple. And while some may have perhaps a more pessimistic outlook of the future, I would offer the evidence of the oath that I administered to 260 new second lieutenants at the Naval Academy a couple of weeks ago, which was the same oath that I first swore to uphold 42 years ago, the same oath that has its roots, as you all are aware, dating back to 1789, and really the very subject, the very object of its allegiance. Because as you all know, our oath in the United States, if you're serving in the military is not to a party, not to a person, but to set ideals to the principles basically that are written in the Constitution. And there may be adversaries, perhaps through theft or whatever, they may match our technology at some point, or whose militaries may one day equal us in their tactical competency. But I feel confident that there's no other nation, big or small, that equals us in dedication to the ideals of freedom. And those ideals are why we fight. You call me naive, but I think while we occasionally struggle to see that in ourselves, I don't think it's lost on our allies and partners. And the simple fact that our history is filled with conflicts where we have shed our own blood in the defense of others, that's not lost on our allies and partners either. Our dedication, in other words, to those principles, that's the reason why our competitors are pretty quick to point out any lapses in behavior or commitment from our service members, which happens every once in a long while. It's why, in other words, the times when our forces may not quite measure up, may not quite live up to their ideals, to our ideals, all of a sudden become matters of international attention. Meanwhile, contrast that with the routine brutal actions of our adversaries. And that story doesn't even make page two of a news. So you think about that for a second. Why is that? What we stand for, what makes America different are the ideals that we're measured against. And we are expected, you are expected to uphold them. Our leadership, in other words, to the theme of this week on the world stage, the way we engage with friend and enemy alike, it's built on this expectation. The coalitions that we built, the alliances that we defend, they're fundamentally stronger when they're based on ideals and mutual respect and common cause. And moreover, I think I see our allegiances, our alliances, as a critical strength that's essential to what the secretary and the president call integrated deterrence. And I'm not talking about as a transactional relationship, as you would see with perhaps an autocratic regime. I think it's critical that our allies and partners, they're able to count on the professionalism, the ethical actions, the competency of our military members. These traits that I would say as much as our capabilities are really the foundation of trust. And that trust, that trust is the core principle of leadership. And I would say the struggle for freedom and self-determination that's occurring right now in Ukraine that's playing out real time, that's what the inverse looks like, which is illegal, immoral, and frankly, unprofessional actions of the Russian military leaders and some of their military members. That's just one example of what our competitors are offering. And one other note there, I would say just the fact that the Chinese Communist Party hasn't condemned that invasion, that pretty much speaks for itself. In contrast, for that, the professionalism of our soldiers and our sailors, airmen, guardians, and Marines, sets us, sets them apart. But as much as it makes our military stand out, it also draws other nations closer from our global network of training exercises happening around the world every week to our military schoolhouses. Other nations want their military members to train, to learn, to fight alongside ours. And there's a reason why our military colleges and universities are filled with officers and enlisted men and women of our partner nations. There's a reason why every time I meet with my kind of military leader from another country, my counterparts, they, to an individual almost without fail, have attended some U.S. military school during their career. It's not a coincidence. And then in your classes there in Newport, 20%, as you all might already be aware, 20% in your class alone, international students, 50 nations represented there. I think they don't all come there for tactics. I think there's an ideological foundation for that. You'd have to ask yourself, in other words, do you want your military leadership, your military leaders to be a product of Leon Young, which is the PLAN Naval Academy, or maybe St. Petersburg Naval Academy, like the Russian Naval Academy, is that what you're looking for? Or do you want them to graduate from Newport or Annapolis or Quantico or Monterey? Do you want them to learn what to think or how to think? America's leadership, the theme of this couple of days, is tied to our moral leadership. And any other country, if it were ever to replace us on the world stage, they might try to do it by force or it could be because of a lapse in our own commitment to our values that tie the free world together. In conflict, in other words, and in peace, the men and women of our armed services, they're often the most visible representation of our nations, of our country's values and their actions, their professionalism, their strength in both military capability and moral courage. That's what our allies and adversaries use to judge our capability for being a world leader. And if those attributes ever decline, so too will the trust in our leadership as a global power. Our people, in other words, as much as our policy is what preserves our leadership role. Let me just say that again. Our people, as much as our policy, is what preserves our leadership role in this world. And that's why it's so important that we have to continue to invest in their success, in the individual service member's success. We have to continue to ensure the health of our all volunteer force, so that the quality of service member meets the gravity of their role in our nation's defense in our nation's future. In competition or in conflict, what we do, and sometimes more, sometimes more importantly, what we don't do, that makes us unique among the great powers of the world. And the foundation of that starts in places like the Naval War College and the Marine Corps University. Because our intellectual, our moral foundation, that's inseparable from our leadership. And our leadership is first and foremost a human endeavor, which brings me full circle back to the very people that are sitting in the audience today. For generations, leaders of our military have come to these halls where you're at a new port to be educated, to solve really hard problems and to recommit themselves to the idea behind their oath. The students who pass through here, they've received one of the finest educations available, no question, hands down. Then they go back to the fleet or back to the fleet Marine Force or back to their parent service to do one thing. They go back to leave.  And you will be armed certainly with a year's worth of education.  Oh, from my perspective, it's important that you take that experience back with you to the betterment of everyone that you're going to serve with everyone you're going to leave. But I have a challenge for you. And I think it's one that you're up to beyond the joint, beyond the national security curriculum, beyond strategy and policy discussions, beyond all that. I challenge you to think about what led you here in the first place.  Remember who you were before you began this journey? What was it that drew you to the military? What was it that kept you going through even the tough times?  Your experience? Yes, certainly. Of course it's your experience. Certainly the education, including this year here. But I bet, I bet for everyone in that room, everyone in the audience, it all starts with that oath. That feeling that you had when you raised your hand, and I remember that myself 42 years ago. It was solemn. I was very proud. It was exciting, but it was also humbling. And the folks in the audience today, I think probably have very similar experiences. We are different from most people. And it's incumbent on us, us leaders, you to bear that responsibility while you wear this uniform. So when you're in a dark place, when you don't have all the right answers, remember that. Remember your oath. I hope there's something in what I've said for each of you to take forward with you as you go on to your bright careers that are right laying out in front of you. And I wish you all the very best. Really, again, thank you, Admiral, for allowing me to spend some time with the group today. And here, I'd love to hear what's on your mind, either feedback for me or questions for me. And I'm going to turn it back over to your end. And I'll stand by for whatever's on your mind. Okay, open it up for any questions. Yes, sir. Hey, General Berger. Good morning, sir. John Davidson, Department of the Army, civilian, United States Marine Corps retired. Sir, my question for you is this, okay, during the course of my research on one of my papers here, I discovered that the United States has not maintained an enduring ARGMU presence in the St. Com AOR going back to January of 2022. That's over a year and a half ago, which in my mind that is an enduring trend. And we also recently saw with the political turmoil in Sudan that the United States did not have the availability of an ARGMU to support the NEO and was forced to rely upon the US NS Chesty puller as an in lieu of crisis response capability. So, sir, two questions for you. First is, what do you think? What's your perspective on the strategic implications of the continuance of this trend, this capability gap in that part of the world, and what needs to be done in order to correct it? And then secondly, kind of, you know, opening the aperture a bit. What is your vision? How do you envision Marine Corps forces, the fleet Marine Forces being employed in a contingency in the eastern Indian Ocean region in order to counter Chinese aggression either against Taiwan or within the South China Sea? Thank you, sir. Okay, John, welcome back to the Marine Corps family, even if it's just for an hour. Welcome back. What's the strategic implications of gaps in not having an amphibious ready group, Marine Expeditionary Unic and ARGMU in anywhere in Africa, in the Middle East, in the Mediterranean, the gap here's the gap to me translates into risk for the combatant commander. Because there are certainly instances where you can fly in a response force, and that's a great option. But there are so many other scenarios that you and I have seen where that's not an option. Either you don't have the basic, you don't have the access, you don't have the overflight, you don't have what you need to position a land-based force. And yet you still need the nation still needs to respond. And that is where an ARGMU comes in, because it's US sovereign territory and it's movable. So what does it mean for a combatant commander? It may take longer to respond to a crisis, which equals even more risk. He may not even be able to respond at all with what he should be with the right tool for the job. It may be the wrong tool, the wrong response force, because the right one isn't available. So from, you know, what does it mean, the strategic implications, the risk of something happening that we didn't forecast, and fewer options for the president and the secretary to choose from, or delays, which all adds up to increased risk, which they own. And I, and my job as a service chief, providing the capability that they can employ. So what do you do to correct it? A couple of things. First, increase the maintenance readiness of the amphibious ships that we have. We don't have a shortage of Marines or Marine units. They're ready to go. What we have is a shortage of available ships. So first step, the ships that we have right now, we have to bring the readiness level up. Lots of reasons for why they aren't at the readiness levels they ought to be, but that's another conversation. Second, you got to have the inventory of ships as a baseline to start from. Our assessment based on all the O plans and campaigning and national defense strategy and all the guidance that we have, add all that up, equals nothing less than 31 amphibious ships. If we have anything less than that, then we'll have more gaps. So we got to, we got to increase the readiness of what we have, and we got to make sure that the nation never has less than 31 amphibious ships that are operational. Continuity in the eastern Indian Ocean. Are you talking, just make sure I understand, are you talking more off the coast of Africa, or were you talking about? Sir, specifically in vicinity of say the Bay and Bengal, or the approaches to the Strait of Malacca. So that part of the eastern Indian Ocean region. The best response for us there, I would offer to you is probably, depending on how far inland it is on the continent, it's going to be from the sea. I'm going to give you a contrast. Recently, we had a challenge in Guam where we had two choices, an aircraft carrier or an ARGMU. An aircraft carrier brings a lot of tools with it, a lot of weapons systems. It's great for strike. It's great for a lot of things. It's not great for handling a crisis that you're talking about in that part of the region. It's built for high-end. It's built for different, it's a tool kit for a different purpose. Here, I would think that General Langley in Africa, the Middle East commander, they would want a sea-based response force that they could relocate, that they could move to where the problem is, and could sit offshore for long as you need to, to be ready to respond. Now, what's my vision for a contingency in the East Indian Ocean? Have a seaborne, have an embarked marine naval expeditionary force that the combatant commander can employ when and where he needs to? Over in the corner. Good morning, good morning General. This is a major Sam Houtling. I had a question about, I was fortunate to attend Cornerstone in Quantico, and we talked a little bit about the changing economy of our modern age, and that is moving to an experience economy, in that you see this evidenced in, I guess, this quitting culture where I don't want to work here anymore. I don't like my boss. I quit. Where we no longer see an industrial age, I'm working for the paycheck, I'm working for all these benefits. I know the Marine Corps is doing a lot of great things to address talent management. Where do you see the Marine Corps and the services as a whole competing in this environment of an experience economy where younger people are looking for all of their dreams met by the employer? And when those aren't met, I don't want to work here anymore. I'm about to go on recruiting, so I'd love to hear, love to hear your take on your intent for my next three years. Thanks, sir. There's some who paint the workforce and high school junior, senior sort of population in a broad brush as everyone, all. I'm not there at all. And I have recruiting experience, and I think it's dangerous to say all.  And then if they're not happy tomorrow, they're going to get it, they're going to flip and go to another job. I think maybe that's probably true for some, but not all. I think the population that we recruit from 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, they want to do something that matters. They want to contribute. They want to be part of something special. They don't know what that is, but they want to have an impact. They will absolutely ask a lot of questions. They won't, they won't accept the initial, hey, this is the way it is. They want to know why they want to know the background. I think the challenge for employers, the challenge for the military, in more narrowly to the military is how do you meet the employee, the service member partway where we have a deeper understanding of what they're, what's important to them and where we can make adjustments to our, you know, like HR policies, what can we do to accommodate because we're going to need to retain them. And some of that may be leave or pay or after you have a baby, how much time you have off, what, how much education you can go on. Is there a opportunity for a sabbatical? We have to, we have to be, I think we're going to have to be more creative. At the end of the day though, at the end of the day, the flip side of that coin is they're joining, if you're, if you're going into the military, you're joining an organization that has commitments and you have to be willing to put them first and foremost. Your job, in other words, when you go on recruiting is first to learn about the individual, not to sell them yet, but first to learn about the individual. What makes them tick? What, what, what do they value the most? And then figure out how to match that up with the Marine Corps.  It's not like you're joining a, joining a corporation and then you can skip over to another one.  So that, communicating that, helping them understand what this step might mean like is really important. I'm not a pessimist of this workforce. I think they shook the, the corporation, the private sector up a bit. I think the private sectors figuring out what can be done from home and what they got to come in to do.  We'll have to sort all that out, because if everybody's just home on their couches with their laptops today, we're going to lose the social skills, the interaction part that we need. I think there's some learning to go on in the military. There's some learning to go on in the private sector, but I think the workforce also will adjust over time to settle into how much remote versus these things are so important to, not just the job, but to human interaction. We got to be face to face for those. Where are you going on recruiting duty? Do you know RS Albuquerque, sir? Albuquerque. All right, awesome. When, when you headed there this summer? Change of command, 7 July, sir. 7 July. Congratulations. Awesome. Most important duty in the Marine Corps recruiting. Get that right. Everything else follows. General, good morning, Vice Admiral Frank Pandoff. As you conclude your tour, can you give us an update on where you are with implementing force design? And how has your thinking evolved as you have implemented it into the fleet? Hey Frank, good to hear from you. We're four years into this and a couple of learning points for me. One, I think we are on the right path. I will not never be happy that we're moving fast enough because the threat is not static and I don't want none of us want a fair fight. So I think till the day I'll leave, I'll be frustrated that we can't move faster because every bit at one inch out in front of the adversary is less casualties is resolution faster. So I'm never going to be happy that we're moving at the right pace. But the direction of force design where we're headed, I think is good. I think because of a lot of great input by majors and lieutenant colonels and colonels over the last three years, we have not just instituted, we have evolved and adjusted the feedback loops so that the learning as we test out things, as we trial things feeds very quickly back into the nerve center of the Marine Corps down in Quantico, Virginia, and we can make adjustments as we go. That was really important because our aim point was a decade out. So there's some unknowns there. There's some assumptions. So I think we would have fallen on our face if we didn't have the closed loop quickly back to this works, do more of that. This did not work. Okay, we learned that. Thanks very much. So I'm very happy with that learning cycle that we're in the iterative process and it's rapid and cuts out a lot of layers and a lot of changes of command it just feeds directly back in really helpful. It's more chaotic the way we're choosing to do it because in this like learn fast, fail fast, however, some people write about it in different terms. It is more chaotic if it would be more controlled if we had an experimental unit, but it would also go slower and it would also be insulated. So we chose to use the world as our laboratory and deploying units as our experimental units. So it's a little harder to harness all of that learning, but it's also happening a lot faster and I'm more comfortable. We are all more confident in the lessons learned because it's actually real units that are doing these things instead of an artificial test unit experimenting with things. Very comfortable with all that. I'm comfortable at the end of four years. We've squeezed everything out of inside the Marine Corps we could and needed to. The only thing I'm never going to be comfortable with is not moving fast enough. Morning, Sir Major John Woloski. About two years ago you co-authored a letter with Air Force General CQ Brown in which you advocated for redefining readiness less in terms of quantifiable numbers of trucks, numbers of planes, and in relation to the enemy. What traction have you gotten on that idea, especially now that General Brown is going to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs? Yeah. Earlier this week, John, earlier this week was another follow-on article that I co-wrote with a person from OSD who's in the readiness office of the Secretary of Defense. We co-authored a follow-on article and it was published earlier this week. So that should tell you there's traction there. I think there is clear recognition that just counting things, how many of X do I have this afternoon, does not give the Secretary the picture that he needs to make really informed decisions. So there's no naysayers there that, hey, the old system's fine. We don't need to change. We have to get the Secretary the fidelity to make the best decisions possible, especially if he's making decisions on should we do this next week or next month. And if we do, then what's the impact a year or two or three into the future? And the things that we're, if we make this decision, is it the right thing? Is it actually ready or is it just available? So I'm comfortable it's headed in the right direction. The Secretary of Defense's team is calling it Strategic Readiness Framework and they have basically hijacked the tool for measuring that, that the Marine Corps folks in PPO and our operations came up with two years ago. They borrowed that and lifted it up to OSD. So they're using the Marine Corps as sort of, this is not the end solution, but this is the direction we need to go. Because the framework that some really bright people in the Marine Corps had come up with paints a much more holistic impact of decisions on global force management than we have three of them. Let's commit them. We got them to spend, so let's spend them. I think, so I'm comfortable to answer your question that the Secretary of Defense and his team have embraced it. I think all the service chiefs know our current system isn't enough to give the sector the whole picture that he needs to make the best decisions he can. Sir Commander Steve Collins, thank you for your time today. I just read an article recently about Hask discussing the 31 ships and saying Congress knows how many ships we have, we want to have, but then Cape saying something different and possibly removing Cape from the equation. Have you heard any of that and do you have any insight regarding that topic, sir? I have heard that, read the same thing that you read and of course if you're here in Washington, D.C., the news on things like that from Congress travels pretty quickly between the Congress and the Pentagon. My sense is from watching the last couple years and even this week that the House Armed Services Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee understands the need for amphibious ships and what the Navy Marine Corps, the Joint Force needs and they wrote it into law last year to make sure that it wasn't buried somewhere. They intentionally wrote into law that the comment on the Marine Corps will identify the requirement for amphibious ships, not anyone else. As far as Cape, I don't know where that goes. I understand what I read. I understand, as always, some people have different opinions and frustrations but that's above my level so I don't worry about that. I just know that they exist right now as a body of people who do analytical work. I think we'll see how it plays out. I really don't know the ins and outs of that although I saw the same thing that you did. Sir, we have one question from the online forum. Yeah. With regard to force design, do you think that some of the communication around it, not the actual changes, has over emphasized the support to see denial against peer adversaries, vice-reminding decision makers and national leadership that the Marine Corps will retain its crisis response capabilities? Much of the public discourse around force design 2030 appears to focus on this idea that it's too focused on a single threat scenario, which is not my impression at all but because the new capabilities are what draws the most attention, the bread and butter crisis response appears to have been lost in this discussion. Yeah. From Jim, I can see the question now. Here's what I'd say. First of all, the basic function, the role of the Marine Corps doesn't change. We are the nation's crisis response force by law and by role, by function, that doesn't change. I would agree with you to some degree that there's some of the discussion, the debate has taken the conversation in different directions, but I think your impression that it's not, we're not a single threat or a single combatant command or a single AO force is exactly right. Force design has in mind what the pacing thread is that the national defense strategy lays out, but it's not a strategy for China. It's not a strategy for Indo-Paycom. It's a strategy that builds a deterrent force able to respond quickly in terms of a time of a crisis and if there's a conflict to fight and win those three things. Can you deter, can you respond to a crisis very quickly and appropriately with the right force and if conflict, if a major conflict comes, can you fight and win? That hasn't changed. Force design for us is how we do those three things and I would agree some of that gets lost in the discussion, but I'm okay with that. It's a lot of debate and a lot of people weighing in with their own opinions, but I stay focused on can we deter, can we respond quickly first? Can we fight and win in a conflict? As long as we maintain where our aim point are, we'll be fine, we'll be fine, but how we do that, that has to change as the environment changes, as the threats change. Yes ma'am. Sir, it's show and I would say- It's show. So I'm, I'd like to ask you how you in your professional development were able to build a series of prompts into your problem solving that accomplished perspective taking in a different kind of analysis as a more senior leader from when you are a more junior leader and if you could help to share some of those prompts that you have found to be helpful in your analysis and framing of a problem. That's a fantastic question. I think up until the part, until the time I went, I was a major and went through command and staff college pretty much the same pretty much traditional conventional way of thinking and approaching problems. What changed for me was the primarily PME, primarily the what I learned from professional military education at both the School of Advanced Warfighting for a year and then a year at Johns Hopkins. Those two years formative for me in terms of how I approach really complex kind of wicked sort of problems. What changed for me is a clearer understanding of not just critical analysis in the way the clause of which would describe it, but critical thinking and the value of do you under first do I understand the problem and then making sure that there you never fall in love with the solutions and you surround, I surround myself with people who do not agree with me. It constantly it causes me to constantly check my assumptions. It brings me back to home base though sort of like the you know the Lincoln book of team of rivals make sure I have found it most helpful to me to not surround myself with people who are like me who think like me but people who have a different perspective have a different background and aren't afraid to challenge the direction that I'm headed because the more senior you are as an admiral or a general the more tendency there is for everyone to get in line behind you and say that sounds great let's go do. So I found not just intellectually I have to I have to surround myself with really intellectually capable people. They also must have whatever it takes to tell that you know the emperor he doesn't have any clothes on that's a different sort of a personality professional but not hesitant to say no I think you've got it completely wrong there's another way to look at the problem. The critical thinking part of me tries to look at and I have an engineering background as a bachelor's degree and I combine those two because the engineering part of the mechanical engineering part of me is practical in other words there are components here we can make it work the critical thinking part of me is never comfortable looking at it through on one plane on one level or from one direction try to look at it on different levels from different angles try to detach try to erase as much of my personal biases as I can move around the other side of the table and say what does it look like from that direction from that level and the more you can mentally do that the more confident I am in the conclusions that we reach. Formative for me is those two years of education I would I am convinced I would not have the tool set that I have without those two years and they were two different years and in a little bit different time frames but for me absolutely formative in how I approach really tough problems really the critical thinking part how do I how do I approach the problem sets at an admiral or a general will and the prompts that I use are the prompts that I spoke of first the people not people like me not people who think like me but people who are willing to challenge me and have a different background and second just the tools that you pick up from advanced schools like SAW or SAMS or SAS and higher level education which the Marine Corps afforded me at a place like Johns Hopkins that causes you to think on a different level and be able to capture it be able to write it down be able to justify it and I'll finish up show I'm trying not to take too long but the battleground that I learned on was in school of advanced war fighting small group everybody studying the same thing on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday you come in and the instructor just starts picking people at random and you have to defend how you view things and there's 12 other people that are shooting directly at your forehead and that goes on for hours that hardens you because you can't not do the homework and you can't wing it because there's 12 other people who have done theirs so it really prepared me for later on now that's probably a good place for me to pause one more question good morning sir major john claus in us air force so on your theme of people yesterday we had some panelists talking more about the populace one made a point that the civilian populace may not understand maritime strategy with another panelist making the point that that may be true but the american people have a phenomenal judgment overall so it overall helps our national power what's your take on that two level game of the american populace and did that affect force design and maybe some of the roadblocks that were there initially but then overall the buy-in thank you I don't think it's time to panic like push a panic button on the american populace but we should understand that their understanding of things that are happening is fed of course by where they get information from and their understanding of their government and their military is our responsibility if we don't feed that if we don't end and in the right way then they will still form opinions and they may not be informed by fact I I have confidence in the populace also I think they can exercise good judgment if they get good information but of course yeah I mean I you don't need me to tell you they're bombarded right now with everything but accurate information so sorting through that messes are not a neat not not a small challenge I think it's all possible and I think first of all and I know this is very elementary and I'm oversimplifying John but I think it begins with are we teaching are we teaching in middle school and high school do they understand civics do they understand how our government works do they understand that because if the if they don't get that then it's hard later on for them to be an informed populace that can make great judgment calls if they don't understand the machinery they don't understand our constitution so I don't think we should never take for granted we have to focus on the teaching that happens in back way back when where you and I are in middle school and high school because if you get a foundation in civics then you can form an opinion later on as long as you can sort through the facts but in lieu of that's really dangerous they're going to form opinions anyway I I think they don't understand naval strategy no absolutely no I think they expect you and I think they expect the military to protect America I think they don't all understand why we have a military that's overseas if there's no war going on why is that I don't think they understand why Taiwan might be important probably couldn't even pick out Taiwan on a map we have to everybody all every one of our job is an educator you're in my job educate educate does the popular we cannot we cannot expect anything more from the population from the populace than what the then the information they're fed with so I'm a glass half full person I think we're we're fine but I think their base of knowledge is not anywhere near where some people think it is and they're fed bombarded constantly by disinformation and misinformation blah blah blah and sorting through all that stuff not easy at all one more question good afternoon general thank you for your remarks this is commander paul roger is us navy my last assignment I was at six fleet in naples or I had the opportunity to watch then major general donovan stand-ups task force 621 which was also a great pleasure for me in the n2 department because I saw amazing synergy between the marines and the navy working together I'm wondering what's your vision for the maritime forces working together as a single component or as still two components or a mix of the two thank you yeah paul well if you were there you had a front row seat and like you I was watching sort of from the bleachers back here and I know Frank donovan and I'm still amazed at he cut loot he cut people loose he cut small unit leaders loose in Europe to try things to experiment with things that uh you know they aren't in any book in any manual anywhere and he had so much confidence in them that probably in three or four or five months he made more progress for the marine corps than we could have made in 12th because he had he allowed he enabled junior leaders to try thanks and then he supported them the integration of the navy and marine corps absolutely powerful six fleet seventh fleet third fleet the integration as a joint force maritime component commander gif mc powerful to me um the the best combinations that I've seen is where either the navy is the the gif mc commander and the marine is the deputy or vice versa there's you can depends on the scenario but the integration of their two staffs brings gosh every bit of um expertise that you want on a component of in other words a functional component a gif mc staff because you have the the best that a map for division staff brings with it from the marine side the aviation the logistics all that stuff you have the naval part that the navy staff man that you smash them together you have incredible synergy when it works right much more powerful than the two independently so I'm a supporter of all that I'm also a supporter though I would tell you of not dictating from the commandant or cnoc how it should look like because one size does not fit all and we should enable we should uh support the different fleet commanders and f mf commanders and how they see it best fit so I think prescribing one size fits all mistake but worst thing we could do let have confidence that as you saw in Naples or in yukuska that they can solve it in their own way there our job is to resource it and not be prescriptive from the top down that there's a single here's the structure here's the solution set for everywhere around the world let them tailor build it for what they have to do in their region and my job the cno's job support that heck you had a front if you were there for 61 2 you had a front row seat for all that so awesome probably probably had an awesome site picture commandant your presentation today was extraordinary and you've given our audience a lot to think about sir we know that you have another month um in your present role and on behalf of our community here we wanted to express our appreciation to you for your consistent support of the united states naval war college and for all that you have done for the united states marine corps our joint force and the security of our nation thank you oh well we've come to the end of the current strategy forum which for students at the united states naval war college who are graduating on friday gives you a certain lightness about your being today i know many of you have already managed to get your household goods moved some of you are still in process on that task but we hope that the forum today and yesterday have given you an exposure to some current thinking and current research has sparked in you that commitment to continue to access the fora the conferences the symposia that we have here at the naval war college to reach back and continue even as you get your next world all ordered um and build your teams that you'll occasionally reach back whether it's to our youtube channel our podcasts or participating virtually or in person here at the naval war college but you'll remember to access those tools and to prevent any return to the way you had done things before you were exposed to this wide breadth of material and given an opportunity to interact with it and grow vertically during this time so that is my hope for you i do want to before we depart thank our wonderful speakers our moderators and panelists i want to also thank professor mike surelock who did so much to organize this event and to bring the very best interactions possible to the stage here at spruin's auditorium i want to thank our wonderful events team our audio visual team our graphics team our facilities team for making this a really pleasant place to be uh the oak club for supporting us so well as you always do and i want to thank the foundation for being a partner in this wonderful current strategy forum and also uh because you just got to see it really we don't always turn on the full gain and actually get to see this magnificent screen which was a gift from the naval war college foundation general burger was in the room with us and it is really increased the quality of our experience here in spruin's auditorium so i did want to say again thank you to george lang in the back and to the whole naval war college foundation for that generous gift and your support so go safely today we have an award ceremony tomorrow i will see some of you there and i will see the rest of the audience on the stage as you cross through to collect degrees most of you and uh some will continue on and rejoin us in the um at the restart of the term in august um if you are departing please go safely and please access our content we are here and we are a reliable source of information upon which you may make your observations your analysis and draw your conclusions thank you it's been a pleasure