Gates Welcomes Afghan Leaders for Inaugural Forum

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates welcomed Afghanistan’s defense and interior ministers to the Pentagon today for the first of what officials expect to be regular meetings to sustain an effective long-term military-to-military leadership relationship.

The U.S.-Afghanistan relationship “is bonded in the blood of our sons and daughters,” Gates told Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and Afghan Interior Minister Besmillah Khan Mohammadi before the three men and their senior staffs began their meeting.

The administration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai already has made much progress, and the Afghan national security forces have made “tremendous progress” in helping to secure the country, Gates said. The growth of Afghanistan’s army and national police and their increasing ability to lead security operations has been “truly impressive,” he added.

More than 5,000 Afghan forces have been killed in action since 2006, the secretary noted, adding that their sacrifice is “something we appreciate and honor.”

Wardak said the Afghan casualties “are our patriotic duty,” and added that Afghans are “extremely grateful for the sacrifices of your sons and daughters who fought from so far away.”

“I strongly believe that our greatest tribute to them will be to realize the objectives of those brave soldiers who paid the ultimate price,” he added.

Afghans have “profound gratitude and everlasting appreciation” to the United States, Wardak said. He added to Gates, “We are thankful for your personal engagement and leadership, … and I believe we will prevail.”

Afghan leaders are looking for a closer and stronger relationship with U.S. leaders, Wardak said. “Whatever we have achieved, we could not have accomplished without your support,” he said.

Afghanistan had only a very basic foundation when U.S. forces began operations there in the fall of 2001 to drive out the Taliban, and clear progress has taken place since then, Wardak said.

Though plans call for Afghanistan’s security forces to be responsible for the entire country’s security by the end of 2014, Afghanistan still will need U.S. help, Wardak said. “I do strongly believe that for Afghanistan to survive in that very volatile region, we need your help beyond 2014,” he said.

The meeting was the first of the U.S.-Afghanistan Security Consultations Forum, which Gates said he established “as an institution beyond 2014,” when U.S. military forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan.

The forum included Michèle Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy; Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and other defense officials to discuss building long-term cooperation between the two countries, as well as issues of immediate importance, according to a Defense Department statement.

The secretary said he hopes the forum would meet twice a year to discuss shared expectations for Afghanistan, to set specific goals and objectives, and to demonstrate to others in the Central Asia region that the U.S.-Afghanistan partnership is putting Afghanistan on a path of improvement.

The meetings included a review of security gains across Afghanistan in 2010, particularly in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, where improved security provided by a surge of Afghan and NATO forces has enabled greater Afghan freedom of movement, commerce, and development, officials said.

Talks focused on how to build on those gains this year, officials added, particularly in transitioning security to the Afghans.

Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan told reporters that the leaders would meet for several hours today.

“This is looking to the future for a sustained and enduring relationship with Afghanistan as a country, but also with the Afghan security forces,” he said.

The Afghan ministers and Gates also will discuss the gains of the last year and what needs to happen in the future to continue the progress, Lapan added.

“What will it look like past 2014?” he said. “These discussions will look beyond at what our relationship will be and what U.S. military support will be needed after that date.”

(Jim Garamone of American Forces Press Service contributed to this report.)

Lincoln Hosts Brunei Military Leaders

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jerine Lee, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs

USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) hosted 16 guests from Brunei while underway Feb. 22, including senior military and government leadership, media reporters, and U.S. Embassy representatives, during a visit to reinforce the partnership the U.S. shares with its 7th Fleet partner.

The guests were greeted by Rear Adm. Mark Guadagnini, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9, before attending a formal lunch followed by a full day of tours, discussion forums, a personal briefing by strike group aviators, and interaction with the ship's crew.

Deputy Minister of Defense Dato Paduka Mustappa Sirat was the senior member of the delegation, accompanied by Permanent Secretary Dato Paduka Haji Shofry Hj Abdul Ghafor, Permanent Secretary Pengiran Datin Masrainah, Commander of the Joint Operations Center Col. Aziz Tamit, five others from the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, four members of the media, and three members of the Embassy staff.

The Brunei delegation was briefed on the ship's defense capabilities while visiting the combat direction center. They then toured the ship's bridge and hangar bays, saw an F/A-18 Super Hornet close-up, and had the opportunity to observe flight operations from the flight deck.

"My favorite part of the trip was being on the flight deck," said Senior Superintendent Amiruddin bin Haji Junaidi, head of the Brunei Marine Police. "The rolling, vibrations and action was exhilarating and the professional coordination of all the people and aircraft was very exciting to watch. I can't wait to tell my family and friends about my experience on board the Lincoln."

The U.S. and Brunei have a long established military relationship, to include joint exercises and training evolutions. The purpose of this visit was for Lincoln to showcase firsthand what capabilities it offers to help maintain stability and security in the region, in a multinational effort to promote peace and prosperity.

"This was a tremendous opportunity for us to see the ship," said Lt. Col. Ghani bin Haji Abdullah, Royal Brunei Land Forces chief of staff. "It is amazing to see all of the ship's potential in supporting all the Sailors and their missions."

"It was a trip we will never soon forget, and we must emphasize the importance of your presence in our region," Mustappa said.

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts to establish conditions for regional stability.

For more information about USS Abraham Lincoln, visit their facebook page at www.facebook.com/usslincoln.

For more news from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn72/.

Chain of Command and its Effect on Empowering Employees

Chain of Command and its Effect on Empowering Employees


Lean Six Sigma has special challenges in organizations that have a military styled rank structures. I have personally experienced this as a representative of a law enforcement agency and as a military guardsman. Recently, I have had the good fortune of making the acquaintance or Retired Colonel Billy Asbell, former Director for the Air National Guard's Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century program (AFSO21). AFSO21 is the Air Force program geared towards Lean Six Sigma, and other continuous improvement methodologies used for years in the public sector. For a more detailed breakdown of the AFSO21 program, this link may prove helpful:

https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=140227&lang=en-US

Since getting to get to know Colonel Asbell, I was inclined to draw from his years of experience in the military, coupled with his expertise as Director of the AFSO21 program. He was kind enough to give a response to an email that I sent him regarding rank structure and its effect on empowering employees towards continuous improvement. He graciously allowed me to post that email to this blog. For that I am forever grateful. Leadership such as his is what has made, and continues to make, the United States of America the greatest country in the world. Below are the details of the email, titled:

Chain of Command and its Effect on Empowering Employees

Colonel, as you may know, law enforcement is considered to be "Para-military" in that it has a rank structure, consisting of line personnel, Sergeants, Lieutenants, Assistant Chiefs, Chiefs, Directors, etc. I am curious of what someone with your extensive background in CPI (continuous process improvement) could offer as insight as to how the rank structure effects empowerment of the line officers and middle ranks, and how it relates to CPI. This seems to be a major issue and something that is holding several agencies back from making major leaps forward with its culture change.

Basically, what does an empowered employee look like in a large rank structured organization, how should leaders learn to recognize these traits, and how do we foster that culture to get us out of the "yes man" mentality that the rank structure claims it needs to keep order?

Here is Colonel Asbell's Response:

Billy - you are right - this is a challenge and it takes leadership commitment from the top to make it work.

First you have to get leadership - at all levels - to buy off on the idea that "if they had the answer they would just put it in place - if it is a problem obviously then they don't have the answer so they have to support whatever the subject matter experts come up with..." This is hard but it works. I have seen process owners say this but not do it when the decisions are hard - nothing changes. I have seen ones that mean what they say and hold the team responsible if their solutions don't work to fix them so they will and success goes thru the roof. Here is the approach I take.

1 - when the problem is identified sit down with the process owner and write out a charter for process improvement. You can usually tell in the meeting if they really think it is a problem or if someone told them it was a problem. I normally tell them right then - you have to let the subject matter experts fix this because you don't have the answer - you, as the process owner have to tell them that you don't have the answer and that you will try/accept any solution they provide as long as it does not violate safety and/or cost over x amount of dollars. I state - if you can't do this without reservation then we don't need to address the issue now.

2 - when you have that commitment then I do some awareness training with the supervisors - since I will use the front line workers to change the process - I want the supervisors to understand what is going to happen and how they need to support it. I like to do the airplane exercise with them (sure Linda taught you that) so they can see how things can be broken. It is fun to add some goofy rules to the exercise so they can see the impact of policy.

3 - on the first day of the project - the process owner and any supervisors should all meet with the team members and empower them - I usually draft out key points for them to say. The main ones are 1) you are the experts 2) you know what works 3) this is broken I can't fix it 4) I need solutions from you 5) I will support your solutions as long as they do not violate safety or cost over x dollars. The last statement should be "I expect you to fix this problem."

4 - if you do an RIE the mid week vector check with the process owner should be positive - you need to brief the process owner on the key changes being discussed PRIOR to the meeting and tell them they CANNOT MAKE ANY NEGATIVE COMMENTS - "we can't do that, that is stupid, what are you smoking, etc." All comments should be directed at them being on track or not based on the charter - and discussion of the discussion looks very good.

5 - Out brief - the process owner has to go in with acceptance in mind - they have to say - this looks good - I am behind you getting this done - they should know who the team leader is and turn to them and say - I am holding you accountable for success of this change. It works great when they set a review schedule in the meeting. The process owner needs to say to the team - if your solutions don't work - I want you to continue to work until you fix this - turning back is not an option.

6 - Then there is the follow up - you or whomever is the CPI lead needs to make sure a tracking mechanism is in place so that you leadership champion can hold the process owners accountable for their projects.

Finally, you have to look at the CPI or LSS projects as outside the chain activities - the only command structure is focused on the process owner and up to the champion. Consider it a detail in LEAN terms - these folks have this side detail that reports thru a different chain. It does work.

Hope that helps.

Billy (aka George "Billy" Asbell, Colonel, USAF, Retired)

Colonel Asbell's profile can be found on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/in/billyasbell

About the Author: William "Billy" Wilkerson is a Police Sergeant with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and 20 Year veteran with the Florida Air National Guard. He is currently assigned to Sheriff's Office Continuous Improvement Division and also supervises the Staff Inspections Unit. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has been using Lean Six Sigma to streamline many of its processes for the past several years to much success. Billy has also been assisting with the Florida Air National Guard's rollout of their CPI Program (Continuous Process Improvement). Billy can be found on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/in/billywilkerson  or by email at 7388wtw@gmail.com .