2021-22 Impact Report: ELD

CENTER FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

CENTER FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (ELD)

FIELD-BASED LEADERSHIP PRACTICUMS

CHARDELL MCCRORY Education Technician

SUMMARY

The Center for Experiential Leadership Development (ELD) is the bridge between the Leadership, Education & Development (LEAD) Division’s curricular programs within the Leadership, Ethics and Law Department and USNA experiential leader programs. ELD’s purpose is to draw connections between the behavioral science theory taught in the classroom and experiential leadership practice.

The following wilderness leadership experiences, National Outdoor Leadership School and The Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School, are designed to support and complement classroom leadership theory by allowing students to execute and reflect on real-world decision making in austere, unpredictable and dynamic wilderness environments with immediate consequences.

NOLS QUOTE:

“A life-changing training opportunity that I will never forget. I learned a great deal about peer leadership, competency in an unknown environment and being mindful of living in the moment.”

’

MAXIMUS

Naval Academy Leadership Conference

COLONEL MARIA “MJ” PALLOTTA ‘94, USMCR

of the Center for Experiential Leadership Development

NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP SCHOOL (NOLS)

NOLS focuses on four types of leadership: Directed leadership, peer leadership, active followership and selfleadership. During the summer of 2022, 84 midshipmen attended four types of courses in Wyoming and Alaska.

CHESAPEAKE BAY OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL (CBOBS)

The Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School courses meet the needs of midshipmen and USNA’s demand for small unit leadership experiences.

During the summer course, CBOBS promotes effective teamwork and leadership development by providing wilderness expeditions and training that emphasizes the ideals of character, leadership and service. This transformative learning experience, where students develop new technical skills as well as a sense of teamwork, self-confidence and a desire to make a

difference, are designed and delivered by a community of the industry’s most skilled and dedicated educators and instructors. Additionally, during Spring Break, midshipmen participate in a five-day hike along the Appalachian Trail with veterans from USNA and the community in a oneon-one mentoring and leadership expedition. This year, 18 midshipmen participated in the Spring Break hike, and eight midshipmen participated in the summer block expedition.

OUTWARD BOUND QUOTE:

“Outward Bound provided a fantastic experience for learning peer-to-peer leadership while having a fun time with our crew. Canoe camping on the Potomac and backpacking in the Dolly Sods wilderness fostered teamwork and close friendships amongst the crew members that I will never forget.”

Outward Bound teamwork and leadership development hike on the Appalachian Trail

GETTYSBURG LEADERSHIP ENCOUNTER (GLE)

The Class of ’77 Gettysburg Leadership Encounter occurred for the Class of 2023 Brigade leaders over two days in June on the battlefield and at Gettysburg College. Varsity team captains and Brigade leadership learned about the responsibilities and challenges of command through lessons from the iconic U.S. Civil War battle. Midshipman leaders attended classes and break-out discussions covering the leadership tenets of loyalty, standards and action. The battlefield study enabled networking and team building through a cohesive network of peer support that facilitates critical professional relationships within the Brigade during the academic year. During the academic year, these leaders met monthly before first period to discuss current leadership trends and challenges within the Brigade.

THE NETWORK

The Network empowers and equips midshipmen to navigate careers as leaders through increased

opportunities for engagement, education and experiences with officers and graduates, cultivating an inclusive and diverse mentoring network of women and men from USNA, the Fleet, and the Operating Forces. The Network typically involves 400–500 midshipmen annually and provides Lean-in Circle opportunities, as well as four networking events throughout the year to foster mentoring and future retention of women service members. During the 2021–22 academic year, four networking and mentoring events occurred in various venues on and off the Yard, including the annual Military Leadership Symposium, which occurred at the Graduate Hotel in February. Lean-in Circles continued throughout the year.

ST. BENEDICT’S PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL

St. Benedict’s Preparatory H.S. provides select midshipmen an experiential leadership development opportunity in small unit leadership and mentorship responsibilities in a diverse and unfamiliar environment. St. Benedicts’ Prep is a co-ed Benedictine Catholic secondary school in Newark, NJ serving approximately 600 students in

Gettysburg Leadership Encounter (GLE) teaching Varsity team captains and Brigade leadership about the responsibilities and challenges of command.

grades 9–12, many of whom are underprivileged. (2020 was the first year that St. Ben’s accepted female students). During zero block, midshipmen lead small teams of freshmen on the Appalachian Trail for five days. During third block, midshipmen spend the first week on campus helping the staff and upper-class leadership team run an indoctrination period for the incoming freshmen. The following weeks are spent helping in the classrooms, mentoring students and executing an experiential leadership development course for St. Benedicts, like the plebe leadership course. Approximately 30 midshipmen per year participate, honing their leadership skills, developing mentoring relationships with the students that often continue for many years and gaining a better understanding of the vast array of social and cultural dynamics that they will likely encounter once they graduate and begin leading sailors and Marines.

SISTERS ACADEMY OF NEW JERSEY

Sisters Academy operates on an 11-month, extended-day school year model and provides support for preadolescent girls (grades 5–8). The program helps students realize their potential by using education and mentorship as their tools for success. Two midshipmen are invited to participate in professional training in experiential leadership via a combination of practical experience and guided reflection. As mentors and role models, these midshipmen strengthen their creative problem-solving skills, enhance their innovative thinking and hone their ability to adapt to dynamic situations.

OUTDOOR ODYSSEY

Four midshipmen were selected to serve as counselors and mentors at the Outdoor Odyssey camp in Boswell, PA, founded by Major General T.S. Jones, USMC (Ret). They spend the first week leading high schoolers from Florida, serving as counselors and platoon commanders, concluding with a military-style Crucible experience. The remainder of the time is dedicated to training high school seniors to be mentors for younger at-risk middle schoolers who spend summer days at the camp. Approximately 25 college-age counselors work at Outdoor Odyssey each summer, several of whom are NROTC students.

NAVAL ACADEMY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (NALC)

In January 2022, the midshipmen NALC Staff hosted more than 400 students and faculty from over 70 schools, including 10 U.S. and international service academies, for a 4-day conference examining the importance of teamwork, mentoring and coaching. The theme for NALC 2022 was Resilience Rising: Forging through Adversity. Panels included Global Perspectives on Resilience and Combat Resilience Through and Beyond the Fight. The Forrestal Lecture was given by General Eric Smith, USMC, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. Other speakers of note included Lieutenant Jason Redman, USN (Ret.), author, speaker, and retired U.S. Navy SEAL; Mr. Jeff Hunt, Partner at Legend Labs; and Mr. Peter DeMarco, Army Veteran, Leadership and Executive Coach and International Business Executive.

NL425 ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP COURSE

Engineering Leadership (NL425), is offered by the Aerospace Engineering Department as an upperlevel humanities course to better prepare students for leadership and project management roles in a more technical and experiential environment. During the practical application projects, which seek to replicate a technical environment, students are expected to display project management and technical leadership skills while working in teams. In order to achieve this objective, NL425’s curriculum addresses three areas: leading engineers’ teams, leading engineers’ work, and leading engineers’ innovation. The course provides instruction using lectures, reading assignments, classroom discussion, group projects and various experiential learning activities with content that focuses on the following themes: communication, team dynamics, leadership styles, creativity and project management. The course is currently taught by CAPT Ken Reightler, USN (Ret.), a former NASA astronaut.

COMBINED ELD—IPO BATTLE SITES

LREC

Combined IPO–ELD LREC trips provide select midshipmen an opportunity to interact with foreign overseas cultures and the history of U.S. diplomatic and military involvement before, during and after various conflicts in order to instill broadened understanding of cross-cultural dynamics within a conflict setting.

In 2022, seven midshipmen and two staff (Col M.J. Pallotta, USMCR, and Capt Bob Qu, USMC) participated in a battlefield study of the Marianas Islands, including Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. The group read books, taught each other classes and wrote a blog to capture important

military and cultural lessons learned from these key WWII battles. Important sites included stops at all three landing beaches, as well as Saipan’s Suicide Cliffs and Japanese headquarters, the nuclear bomb pits for the Enola Gay and Bockscar B-29s on Tinian, and the war memorials of Guam. The group learned about ancient Chamorro culture, including canoe carving, latte stones, and palm weaving and snorkeled among the wrecks and Sherman tanks still resting off Saipan. Finally, since the Class of 2023 was unable to complete PROTRAMID training, the group toured various military commands, including Camp Blaz on Guam, as well as the Pacific Fleet Headquarters, Kaneohe Bay and ArizonA and Missouri monuments on the way back to Annapolis through Hawaii.

THANK YOU

ELD is essential to bring transformative experiences to midshipmen so that they can take on modern leadership challenges. Thanks to your support, the Naval Academy can continue to create strong leaders and shape midshipmen into the dedicated future officers they will become.

COLONEL MARIA “MJ” PALLOTTA ‘94, USMCR Director of the Center for Experiential Leadership Development

Marianas Battlefield LREC