Date: 09/04/24
Author: Miriam Rodriguez WSMR Public Affairs
From: WSMR News

White Sands Missile Range leaders participated in the second phase of a Defense Leadership Certificate course Sept. 4 at the Professional Development Center titled “Leadership and Team Building: Creating Trust and High Performing Teams.”

WSMR Chief of Staff Nikki Barilow provided opening remarks.

“It is important to invest in yourself and really think about who you are as a leader and where you want to go as a leader,” Barilow said. Barilow then offered participants three things to think about.

“First think about why you are here. Let that be your foundation and your starting point as you develop yourself and as you develop others,” Barilow said. “Second you need to think about who your support system is and who is in your network. Think about those leaders that have had a positive and a negative impact on you. I encourage each of you to think about who you can mentor. For the third part I want you to know that the leadership team is here to support you.”

The purpose of the Defense Leadership Certificate course is to explore, enhance, and improve the ability of Defense Civilian Leaders at all echelons to better understand their operating environment. The course utilizes a deliberate self and team assessment process with the overarching objective of creating high internal levels of trust within teams as a key means to generate and sustain high performing teams that produce results.

The first part of the course began online on Jan. 15 and was conducted through the Canvas Learning Management System on NMSU-Global via New Mexico State University. Trainers from Chieftain Elite Consulting LLC moderated it.

Course Director, Ross Davidson, CEO of Chieftain Elite Consulting, developed the curriculum by collaborating with WSMR leadership, NMSU Physical Science Laboratory, and NMSU Global Campus to simultaneously facilitate professional development in high-performing WSMR employees and to provide project and internship opportunities for university students. The course provides mentorship to both WSMR employees and students, strengthening the partnership between the installation and local campus.

Class participant Dominic Welch, an Electrical Engineer, and Test Officer with the Survivability, Vulnerability and Assessment Directorate, said this is not his first leadership course but he thinks it is great that they are offering these courses.

“Just like common sense if you don’t regularly practice it, you will lose it, so it is nice to have these reoccurring options of different perceptions of what leadership is and what being a leader means,” Welch said.

He said participating in the class allows him to reflect on himself and what kind of leader he expects to be versus his expectation of current leaders.

Welch said he is interested in taking additional courses that will be offered in the future to include Effective Communication and Technical Writing courses.

Participant Natalie Hernandez, a Spectrum Manager with the Radio Spectrum Branch, said the class is a good opportunity to make you self-aware of where you are as a leader, specifically finding your leadership strengths and deficiencies.

“It will help me work towards developing a leadership plan,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said she is also interested in taking the Project Management and Artificial Intelligence courses.

“I think AI is going to impact a lot of our work in the near future.”

Course instructor Buck Elton, a retired Maj. Gen. with the U.S. Air Force, talked about building trust and high-performance teams in his class.

Elton said it is important for civil servants to be able to take leadership classes to help them learn new tools and concepts and discuss some of the advanced leadership concepts that involve building a high performing team. He said it is also important for civilians to learn how to communicate with their teammates and build a culture that is based on trust and focused on the mission.

“Within the military there are several opportunities in a career where you go do formal training and discuss leadership and more advanced concepts,” Elton said. “We have seen a need within government civilians to be able to offer the same type of opportunities. This class is effective in giving them leadership tools that they can use here at WSMR.”

Ron Minty, Senior Associate Consultant for Chieftain Elite Consulting, LLC, said there are a couple of key points that have changed with the Defense Leadership Certificate program for this year. He said the Defense Civilian Training Corps program or DCTCx has now been incorporated into the Classified Ready Employment Workforce program or CREW, which now includes New Mexico State University, University of Texas El Paso, and New Mexico Tech.

The CREW program is the overarching program that is supported by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office with New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory.

“CREW now incorporates our students’ senior year Capstone project requirement with ongoing mission requirements at White Sands Test Center, DEVCOM Analysis Center, and the Naval Surface Warfare Detachment at WSMR,” Minty said. “CREW students gain the advantage of working on actual projects in support of national security, obtain their security clearance, and gain a better understanding of career opportunities in the national defense sector.”

In addition, he said strong relationships are built between WSMR and NMSU-PSL through the CREW Capstone student projects and the Defense Leadership Certificate Courses.

The CREW employment pathway program serves DoD customers with highly qualified job candidates with a wealth of knowledge in National Security and Defense Acquisition prior to entering the DoD workforce.

Minty said CREW students can also take their Defense Acquisition course that is now certified by the Defense Acquisition University for the basic level equivalency. Normally this requirement is mandatory for all acquisition employees to complete in the first two years of DoD employment.

“Last year we were successful at scaling DLC beyond the WSMR Test Center and opening the courses to all WSMR organizations. We plan to continue the expansion throughout the ATEC community,” Minty said.

Minty said current courses within the DLC project include Creating Trust and Building High-Performance Teams, Effective Communications, and Mentorship. They will also begin new courses over the next year in Artificial Intelligence, Technical Writing, and Project Management.

“We provide tailored solutions in DLC topics to meet the needs of the WSMR workforce and drive outstanding results for personal and professional growth. The CREW and DLC courses are assessed and evaluated to help drive immediate improvements through each iteration, enriching the experience for both participants and mentors,” Minty said.