Strategic Education Bridges the Gap Faster If Offered Early to Company Grade Officers

Interview with Captain Carlos “Mike” Sanford, USA

The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) is a nonprofit research and education institute formed in 1997 by the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina. The IDB fosters shoulder-to-shoulder partnerships among the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, other government agencies, and the private sector to achieve excellence and innovation through research and education. The most recent addition to the institute’s programs is the UNC-IDB Strategic Studies Fellows Program (SSFP). Created at the request of the US Army and offering graduate-level credit in Strategic Studies, this five-week course teaches high-potential senior captains to look at national security issues from a more strategic level. Recently the DTJ caught up with Captain Carlos Sanford who shared his experience as a graduate of the inaugural class:

CPT Sanford briefing about coalition and joint training for the group project.

How would you characterize your experience? It was an incredibly dynamic experience and one that has significantly changed the way I think about things. As a Logistics Officer, I now have a better understanding of how our Army operates from the highest

10 | Defense Transportation Journal | Dece mber 2012 SSFP Inaugural Class Photo

levels. For the past 11 years our Army has been at war and an argument can be made that throughout that time there has been a significant decrease in educational opportunities, as requirements demanded Company grade officers to serve “downrange”. Times are changing—company grade officers have been entrusted to take on more responsibility during these times. That being said, a lot of junior officers have a wealth of experience and it should be leveraged in the institutional environment.

What would you say is the most important thing you learned from the program? I learned that as a strategic thinker you must think objectively. Thinking this way can often times stimulate dialogue while formulating new and innovative ideas. As the Army experiences difficult times through budget cuts and constrained resources, we

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How was the program formatted? The Army selected 25 Captains to attend the pilot offering. Once we arrived to Chapel Hill, NC, we attended a social hosted by the IDB staff. The guest speaker was GEN William Tuttle, USA (Ret.), who spoke about learning as much as we could from the program and building relationships with our peers.

Each week had a theme, from civil-military relations to negotiations. The faculty was comprised of a distinguished group of professors from the UNC at Chapel Hill and Duke University. The faculty was outstanding. We were challenged each and every day with thought provoking topics that I’m still researching today. This program goes hand-in-hand with the life long learning process within the Army’s leadership construct.

As transporters we must figure out innovative ways to support the warfighter without fail. I believe that this program provided a curriculum that illustrated how civilians and military work together to accomplish some of the most complex tasks the Army is dealing with.

Was the level of work required from you difficult? I’d have to say yes, simply because of the time requirements and constraints. The professors expect every student to read and come prepared for the next day—it was often extremely time consuming. I would tell future students of the program that it behooves them to come to class prepared because it is a discussion-based program. The professors require you to take a position and really argue for it.

Would you recommend this program to other officers? Yes, I see this as the way forward for educational programs in the military. This is a program that I think will definitely help company grade officers gain a better understanding about strategy. As we draw the force down and become more joint

Team Continental- Pictured from left to right, CPT Mike Sanford, CPT Audrey Smith, CPT Candace Fisher, CPT Parker Hahn and CPT Paul Lee. Group Project: How will the Army need to adapt its educational and training programs to meet these needs? How will the Army need to interact with other elements of the Armed Forces and other US agencies to accomplish the strategic objectives?

in nature, we must understand the bigger picture. Most company grade officers concern themselves with what they have to deal with at the moment. I think that times are changing and we must train for it all. In addition, the program is a true broadening experience—you are treated more like a graduate student than an army officer, which put us outside of our comfort zone in some ways . DTJ

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