CRA Interview Series: Pete Mitchell

In continuation of our CRA Interview series, I was able to catch up with Pete Mitchell to discuss how Supply Chain and Fighter Pilot skills are one in the same!

?I had the pleasure of speaking with Captain Pete Mitchell, an elite US Naval Aviator, and we discussed his experiences and lessons learned in striving to become the best in his field. Following are some interesting comparisons of his career in the military to supply chain and procurement.

?Did you know that working in supply chain requires many of the same skills that elite fighter pilots utilize in their training and execution?

David - “Captain Pete Mitchell it is nice to meet you and I appreciate you taking time to share your experiences with our community in the supply chain and procurement world.”

?Pete - “David I am happy to sit down with you and share my experiences in what skills I have learned that have molded me into an elite US Naval Aviator. From our initial conversation it sounds like working in supply chain and procurement requires a similar skillset. Especially with the challenges you have faced the past few years. You can call me Pete.”

?David - “Pete, I appreciate you stating that and I am sure that many of my peers feel like they have been in a continual dog fight the past several years. When you started down your path in wanting to become a pilot what were the skills that you focused on?”

Pete- “ A navy pilot requires a stellar history of academics, leadership skills, athletics, and?all-round?exceptional characteristics.?Understanding people and your team is also very important to achieve success.”

David- “I would say that all of the skills that you mentioned are important in working in supply chain and procurement too. Experience and knowledge have always been key in being able to understand what the current situation at hand is and how to think through to a successful outcome. I would also say that understanding people and having the ability to listen to make sure that everyone aligns on what the end goal is very important.”

Pete- “Aligning everyone on what the plan is and what the end goal is, is critical to a missions success and also a companies success. Before every mission we gather and strategize on what each persons role is and how we will work together to accomplish the missions success. We also discuss what if scenarios’ so if something goes wrong with one of our planes or an unplanned threat comes into play we have talked about how we will react and deal with it.”

David- “I definitely agree that having meetings prior to starting on a mission/project is key to success so that everyone is aligned on what is the desired outcome. Many times things can come up during a project or normal execution that cause a pivot in strategy. The disruption with supply chain due to the pandemic and shift to work from home strategy created new ways in which we had to work together to accomplish our goals.”

Pete- “I can only imagine David that you and your peers had a tough time during the pandemic as I know that we had several issues making sure that our supplies came through due to shipping constraints and product backlogs.”

David- “Pete, you are right but one thing now is that when people ask what field we are in and we say supply chain they seem to appreciate us more than they use to and we even get a smile and a nod verse past looks of confusion.”

Pete- “Nothing like people being put at a level of discomfort to then start to realize that they need your skill set! Just want to thank you and your peers for helping the word economy stabilize during these times.”

David- “Thank you Pete as like you we work behind the scenes and we are typically only called out when things go wrong. That is starting to change as leadership takes notice of how critical our profession is to the world economy. I also wanted to thank you Pete for your services and to let you know that you are truly appreciated!”