Army Notes
COL Mark
Volk
Three significant personnel changes occurred in the FAO Proponent Office (the
Strategic Leadership Division -- DAMO-SSF) in the last few months:
First, COL Chuck Doroski turned over the reins of the office and moved OSD. I'd
like to take this opportunity to thank him formally for his hard work and dedication to the
FAO program. He oversaw critical changes during his watch including the transition to
OPMS XXI, the establishment of dedicated funding to support ICT and the expansion
of SSF from the old FAO Proponent to the Strategic Leadership Division. With our new
designation, SSF takes on responsibility for FA 59 (Army Strategist), JPME, the Army
Fellowship and Senior Fellowship Programs and Army War College Liaison while still
retaining FA 48 proponency, the Personnel Exchange Program (PEP) and the Schools
of Other Nations (SON) Program. We all offer him best wishes in his new position as
the Chief, Core Capabilities Division, National Security Space Architect, OSD.
Second, is the loss of Dr. Joe Tullbane as a full-time civilian contractor to the
Proponent. Dr. Tullbane accepted a position as the Associate Dean for International
Studies at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. Anyone familiar with our operation knows
the impact Joe has had on the FAO program. His knowledge of issues, historical
perspective, and tireless energy made him an invaluable member of the team. His
legacy will live on in the improvements to our program as evidenced in OPMS XXI. As
a steadfast supporter of the Program, champion of top-notch training for our officers,
and friend to us all, he will be greatly missed.
Third, LTC Paul Gendrolis departed as the FAO Coordinator at DLI and moved on
to a security assistance position in Turkey. Among Paul's many accomplishments, the
reinvigoration of the FAO Course and the establishment of a University Fair stand out
as achievements that will have a lasting impact on future FAOs and DLI classes.
Thanks, Paul!In his stead, we welcome COL Manuel Fuentes to the FAO team.
Many of you may recognize my name as I served in SSF as the Middle East/Africa
Program Manager in 1997-1998 prior to attending the National War College. It is an
honor, and personally a pleasure, to return as Division Chief.
With all our successes, we still have some significant hurdles to clear as we move
forward. Tracking FAO authorizations to ensure the health and upward mobility of each
AOC remains a major challenge. The documentation process is driven from the using
agency and it only takes a few minor changes to have a major impact on the health of
our population. The whole process by which we document authorizations, identify AOCs
needed, training requirements and language specialties is fraught with danger in the
best of circumstances. We in the Proponent have to keep a keen eye on the process
and the results. In spite of constant work we are still finding positions documented for
48As and CPTs -- both invalid designations. FAOs in the field can greatly benefit us all
by ensuring the force documentors in your MACOMs properly reflect requirements. Call
us if you have questions about what should be reflected.
The transition into OPMS XXI will also require constant supervision. While initial
board results indicate that we are moving ahead, there are areas which have yielded
surprises. Career Field Designation (CFD) is one of those areas. In the initial boards we
lost some officers who were fully trained and received other senior officers who were
not. Restrictions of time and regulation will make it difficult, it not impossible, to fully
train those officers CFD'd without prior training. We've started the process of working
with PERSCOM to prevent similar issues but it only takes a few small problems to
imbalance an AOC.
Funding is a recurring issue. We've been fortunate to receive support as the ICT
program expanded to provide the necessary pool of officers to support Year Group
needs. Unfortunately, through the budget allocation process, we typically lose 20% of
our funding in the execution year to taxes. That means that we always operate at a
shortage and have to rely on end-of year distributions to meet final funding
requirements. The resulting uncertainty makes it difficult to adequately program and
execute the last minute funding. FAO ICT mentors can help by assisting trainees in
the development and execution of realistic and focused Programs of Instruction.
The good news is that the issues I've discussed are really just fine-tuning of our
program. The regional Program Managers have made great progress in establishing
procedures and creating products to better support our ICT FAOs and their mentors.
Additionally, the hard work Joe Tullbane did in regards to OPMS XXI bore fruit and we
are continuing to refine the details. Remember to utilize the FAOA, Proponent and
PERSCOM FAO web pages to get info on the latest trends in our program. Finally, feel
free to contact me at any time to discuss issues or procedures to enhance the FAO
experience.
STRATEGIC SCOUTS!
1999, Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield,
Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve
Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org