Military Career Decision-Making Professional Competency

 INFORMATION PLANNING, MANAGEMENT, AND CONTROL

In this paper, I plan on explaining what professional competencies I have versus what are needed to become military officer in relation to information planning, management, and control. I will do this using the similarities between the military and civilian business and the skills I have acquired that will be useful as a military officer. I will also focus a lot on the differences between information planning, management, and control in the military and in a business.

Management deals with the conceptual issues of the organization, such as planning, budgeting, and organizing. The planning part involves setting and meeting goals and targets. Command guides the organization with well thought-out visions that make it effective. Control provides structure to the organization in order to make it more efficient (Department of the Army, 1987).

Command is the conveying of a vision to the organization in order to achieve a goal. It does this by formulating a well-thought out vision and then clearly communicating it. Command emphasizes success and reward. Control is the process used to establish and provide structure in order to deal with uncertainties. Since visions normally produce change, this can produce tension and these uncertainties that causes tensions must be dealt with by leadership so they do not hinder the organization. Management's primary focus is on the conceptual side of the business, such as planning, organizing, and budgeting. It does the leg work to make visions reality. Management is about ensuring that the organization's resources are allocated wisely. Management helps to acquire, integrate, and allocate resources in order to accomplish goals and task. This is normally a continuous process. Command communicates the vision or goal to the best people who can implement it. Throughout the process, it adjusts to new knowledge and refines the vision. Leadership helps to guide and motivate people to do their best through the process, and control seeks opportunities to reduce risks, which in turn makes the process more efficient. All these processes work together to make organizations a success when done properly (Clark, 2015).

In my military career, I need to be both a leader and a manager. Leadership is the ability to inspire and influence others to do something and management is the administrative tools, supervision, and other work I use to get there. For example, inspiring my workers to get promoted is leadership, but giving them fair evaluations, ensuring they are taking on the right duties, and assigning challenging jobs they need and giving them time to study is management (Leadership vs Management, 2011).

Human resource management requires individuals to be highly organized, ethical, and skilled at negotiation, conflict resolution and communication. These are all skills that I have acquired throughout my degree program. A human resource management career requires the right combination of education and skills, along with personal attributes such as responsibility, patience, fairness, empathy and firmness. Some of these skills can be taught, and others one either has or dose not. I feel that I have these attributes although I can struggle with patience from time to time, but it is something I continue to work on. Human resource managers deal with employees during potentially stressful situations and must be able to perform their duties in a respectful and diplomatic manner. Human resources specialists in the U.S. military share many of the same duties and daily tasks as their civilian counterparts. For example, in the U.S. Air Force, personnel specialists assist and advise airmen on developing their careers through training programs, and provide information on job specialties and promotions. Additional tasks can include maintaining files and records, scheduling and processing personnel for various actions, and advising personnel and dependents on military training and benefits. Some other human resource careers in the military include becoming one of the following. Personnel Manager whose responsibilities include directing personnel to jobs and training assignments, and planning recruiting activities. Human Resources Management Specialist whose main responsibilities include managing affirmative action plans and evaluation procedures, and designing strategies to improve HR management. Human Resources Specialist support the overall welfare of enlisted personnel, and help leadership keep service members healthy and ready for combat. Since these are all skills that I have been improving upon in my Human Service Degree Program, I feel that I have many options when transitioning to an officer in the military (Burns, n.d.).

Although there are many similarities between the military’s strategies for planning, command, and control, there are many differences as well. When looking at Command and control, the military has a vertical hierarchical structure. The rules of conduct are much more exact and the roles are defined with rank and status that play a big part in the hierarchy and how information is passed. This also includes the defined or assigned occupational career fields that one is trained specifically for when joining the military. The military has consistency across the units and organizations that makes understanding positions and roles quite clear no matter where one is stationed. In terms of promotions and long term careers, the military has a clearly defined process for career progression. Additionally, veterans share a bond in beliefs, traditions, values, and the importance of rank and structure. This can carry on into their civilian life after getting out of the military (Burns, n.d.).

In a corporate non-military atmosphere, there is more of a collaborative model that most organizations tend to use. Organizations are moving closer to a matrix structure to make team work more effective. The rules of conduct are more implied or understood based on the organization’s culture and a person’s roles and status are more ambiguous or flexible depending on the situation. There is variation across teams and divisions with roles and positions having more flexibility. When it comes to career progression, there is a less defined path and more opportunity for lateral assignments. The corporate culture imposes corporate values on the organization and this affects the behaviors of the employees within the organization (Burns, n.d.).

Typically, a military member rises to the top, based on a career ladder (from an E-1 to E-9 within a 20-year career; or junior officer to senior officer). Most of the time in the same career field such as intelligence, logistics, aviation, infantry, medical, administration, and such. The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps do provide opportunities for enlisted soldiers to become Warrant Officers once they are a certain rank through a board and selection process. Other paths taken by enlisted include going to school while enlisted or leaving the military to attain a college degree, and rejoin as an officer (Burns, n.d.).

On the non-military or civilian side, the opportunities are less defined. This is true both inside a company, and when reaching for the top ladder-rung by changing companies. A good example of this is a prior military member who, in a nine-year period left the military as an E-5 enlisted soldier in the Army. He applied for and received a position as a GS-13 in the federal government in a supervisory position. From there he left the federal government and joined a Department of Defense contractor as a Director. He left the DoD contractor for another DoD contractor, where he set up the contract parameters, and was hired as an executive Vice President. He has the opportunity still to move around if desired and apply for more senior-level federal positions. This gives an opportunity to relocate and continue to move up the corporate ladder. Furthermore, within a company, employees can jump from low-level to management, simply based on merit or networking. Many companies have career field codes, but typically, they are much more flexible in allowing employees to transfer into new positions, provide the appropriate training, and expect success. This shows that the opportunities on the corporate side are boundless (Burns, n.d.).  

One of the most common sets of activities in the management is planning. Very simply stated, planning is setting the direction for some system and then guiding the system to follow the direction. There are many kinds of planning in organizations. Common to these many kinds of planning are various phases of planning and guidelines for carrying them out as effectively as possible. Whether the system is an organization, department, business, project, etc., the basic planning process typically includes similar nature of activities carried out in similar sequence. The complexity of the various phases depends on the scope of the system, however, the nature of the activities and their general sequence remains the same. The typical phases that will be summarized on planning used in the corporate world may vary depending on the planning process an organization uses.

·    Reference Overall Purpose, Mission, or Desired Result from System
During planning, planners have in mind some overall purpose or result that the plan is to achieve. For example, during strategic planning, it's critical to reference the mission, or overall purpose, of the organization.

·    Take Stock Outside and Inside the System
An example is that during strategic planning, it's important to conduct an environmental scan. This scan usually involves considering various driving forces, or major influences, that might affect the organization.

·    Analyze the Situation
For example, during strategic planning, planners often conduct a "SWOT analysis". During this analysis, planners also can use a variety of assessments, or methods to measure the health of systems.

·    Establish Goals
Based on the analysis and alignment to the overall mission of the system, planners establish a set of goals that build on strengths to take advantage of opportunities, while building up weaknesses and warding off threats.

·    Establish Strategies to Reach Goals
The particular strategies to reach the goals chosen depend on matters of affordability, practicality and efficiency.

·    Establish Objectives Along the Way to Achieving Goals
Objectives are selected to be timely and indicative of progress toward goals.

·    Associate Responsibilities and Time Lines With Each Objective
Responsibilities are assigned, including for implementation of the plan, and for achieving various goals and objectives and deadlines are set for meeting each responsibility.

·    Write and Communicate a Plan Document
The above information is organized and written in a document which is distributed around the system.

·    Acknowledge Completion and Celebrate Success
If this step is ignored it can eventually undermine the success of many of your future planning efforts. The purpose of a plan is to address a current problem or pursue a development goal. Skipping this step can cultivate apathy and skepticism or even cynicism in an organization.

In the military, the planning process looks quite different. The military decision-making process has seven steps. Each step of the process begins with certain input that builds upon the previous steps. Each step, in turn, has its own output that drives subsequent steps. Errors committed early in the process will impact on later steps. Estimates go on continuously to provide important inputs for the military decision making process. The commander and each staff section do estimates. Estimates are revised when important new information is received or when the situation changes significantly. They are conducted not only to support the planning process but also during mission execution.

·      Step 1: Receipt of Mission.

Input: Mission received by higher headquarters or deduced by the commander or staff.

Output: Commander’s initial guidance; Warning order issued

·       Step 2: Mission Analysis.

Input: Higher HQ deliver a detailed order and plan; Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB); Specific staff make estimates for mission; List all facts & assumptions for estimates.

Output: Initial IPB products such as map overlays, weather reports and other intel information; Restated mission with greater detail; Commander’s intent explaining their vision; Commanders’ guidance (more detailed); Second warning order in greater detail to give subordinate units more guidance for planning process; Staff estimates continue; Preliminary movement (staging of troops and equipment).

·      Step 3: Course of Action Development.

Input: Restated mission; Commander’s guidance; Commander’s intent, Staff estimates & products; Enemy course of action (what the enemy is most likely to do based on intel).

Output: Course of action statements and sketches (step by step plan and visuals).

·      Step 4: Course of Action Analysis

Input: Enemy course of action; Course of action statements and sketches

Output: War-game results (projected results of the proposed courses of action and a recommended course of action for the commander); Task Organization (assigning platoons and companies); Mission communicated to subordinate units; Commander’s Critical Information Requirements (What do we want to know about the enemy? What do we want to know about ourselves? What information do we need to keep from the enemy?)

·      Step 5: Course of Action Comparison.

Input: War-game results; Establish criteria (matrix to rank criteria based on importance)

Output: Decision matrix (final product with recommend course of action based on weighted criteria for commander’s approval).

·      Step 6: Course of Action Approval.

Input: Decision matrix

Output: Approved course of action; Refined commander’s intent; Specified type of rehearsal (practice evolution as specified by commander); High pay-off target list (What needs to be accomplished in what order to be successful in mission).

·      Step 7: Orders Production.

Input: Approved course of action

Output: Orders (orders are generated and distributed to all involved

Figure 5-1 below shows the continuous flow of the commander’s and staff estimated throughout the working process (The military decision making process, n.d.).

  It is clear that although there are similarities within the management, planning, and control processes for military and civilian organizations, the differences are abundant. There are many skills that can be learned and acquired on the civilian side that can be helpful in the military. These attributes can be built upon in the military as they retrain personnel to use information planning, management, and control to fit a military standard so that all personnel will have the same skills to be as efficient as possible.

References

Burns, D. (n.d.). Understanding how military and civilian cultures differ. Job Hunt. Retrieved from http://www.job-hunt.org/veterans-job-search/military-vs-civilian-cultures.shtml

Clark, D. (2015) The four pillars: leadership, management, command, & control. Big Dog, Little Dog. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/LMCC.html

Department of the Army (1987). Leadership and Command at Senior Levels. FM 22-103. Washington, DC: GPO.

How to do planning. (n.d.) Free Management Library. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/planning/index.htm

Leadership vs. management. (2011). Military Leader. Retrieved from https://militaryleader.wordpress.com/

The military decision making process. (n.d.). Army Field Manual 101-5. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/fm101-5_mdmp.pdf