The Heart of an Officer: Joint, Interagency, and International Operations and Navy Career Development
Abstract
The attacks of 9/11 and the continuing conflicts with terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world stand as stark evidence that military commanders today face a changing world and an emerging set of challenges. Beyond the conflicts with extremist organizations, the broad security challenges of the twenty-first century are far more diverse -- from counternarcotics to cyber warfare -- all of which will unfold in an unforgiving 24/7 global news cycle. Because the extant challenges are transnational and nontraditional, the joint commander of today needs to be able to integrate the efforts of a wider and more disparate set of organizations than ever before -- from national intelligence services to charitable giving organizations. To develop this integrative capacity, the commander must be more knowledgeable in joint, interagency, and international operations. Additionally, in this age of globalization, an effective joint commander must be especially adept at strategic communications and ideally speaks at least one foreign language. Producing such leaders with the requisite skills in the joint, interagency, and international arenas, however, will not be easy. Within the U.S. Navy, the segment of the officer corps responsible for mastering such duties?the Unrestricted Line community?is already, through sheer task saturation, approaching the limits of what current career patterns permit. Today, line officers must master platform operational skills, develop expertise in technical fields, and gain at least a nascent knowledge of joint operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA519332
Entities
People
- James Stavridis
- Mark Hagerott
Organizations
- Naval War College