My first year of post-Navy employment

I am often asked if I miss it.

I know what the query refers to, but I often take pause before responding, because it is not a simple question to answer. I always assess the person asking the question, sometimes wondering if they want a passive response, akin to "my day was good, how was yours" cordial acknowledgement of routine. However, if my time permits, I will sometimes toss a lure into the waters and give the inquiry an opening for discourse.

If the person asking has prior military exposure--friend, family, coworker, or themselves a veteran--they gravitate towards shared experiences or service dissimilarities that create comparative 'my deployment was more difficult' banter. Sometimes they go deeper to lament how the times have changed since they first joined up, and possibly some insight into why they separated from the service.

Sometimes, as occurred this past holiday weekend at our neighborhood pool, the person asking has been through the toughest service challenges, with visible and nonvisible scars as evidence, and asks a very specific, very deliberate question.

"Was it worth it?"

That question is atypical and truly caused me to pause, and think. My mind raced through the early years of ship school, Mediterranean deployments, flight school, Western Pacific deployments, and land squarely in my 13-month deployment to the Horn of Africa. I was an Army-trained Inspector General working for a Navy admiral with a Navy staff serving 90% Army reservists in all forward-deployed locations. Needless to say, it was a challenging position doing much-needed work in a third-world country operating under various authorities and ideological missions. That was when I came to appreciate the tag line of "hearts and minds" whenever I interacted with the general public in each of the countries I traveled. It was helping people, internally and externally, every waking moment.

Fast forward a few years and the family and I land in Hawaii, me working in the Pacific Fleet Headquarters (PACFLT) overlooking Pearl Harbor. It was a wonderful assignment, encompassing bimonthly consulting travel to various Asian destinations or back to Washington, DC for closed-door scenario planning and heated debates about resources and adversaries. The work was constant and demanding, but it reminded me of the highlights in my career when everything revolved around people, intellectual conversations, and determining if there were solutions to hard problems. In an environment where there truly are no points for second place and failure is not an option, much brain expenditure was spent in closed-door discussions. Many a day lunch was the only time to allow the grey matter to cool off before another session later in the day.

This brings me to one of the two inspirations in writing this article: a recent posting by the Commander of INDOPACIFIC Command, the higher headquarters to PACFLT, pasted here verbatim.

Dear Alumni of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies,

Aloha from the United States Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawai‘i.

In the midst of COVID-19, we continue to advance our vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific with multiple operations and engagements throughout the region. In the South China Sea (SCS), the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz conducted dual carrier operations, combining over 100 combat aircraft and five state-of-the-art surface combatants in a series of exercises. These combined operations are designed to enhance air defense, sea surveillance, defensive counter air, long-range strike, and coordinated logistics capabilities of INDOPACOM forces on the front lines of strategic competition. Additionally, naval forces from Australia and Japan joined the United States in a trilateral exercise in the Philippine Sea, strengthening cooperation and demonstrating lethality. These exercises continue to improve our operational readiness while deterring aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. 

Meanwhile in the last three months, the Chinese Communist Party has asserted control over Hong Kong, intruded into Taiwan’s airspace, trained guns on the Philippine Navy, harassed Malaysian vessels, sunk a Vietnamese fishing ship, rammed a Japanese coast guard vessel, reignited a deadly border conflict with India, and conducted cyberattacks and economic coercion against Australia. Beijing’s pernicious approach to the region includes a whole-of-party effort to coerce, corrupt, and contest the values embraced by the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.

Recently, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo strengthened the United States’ policy in the region by making it clear that Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across much of the SCS are unlawful. The PRC’s campaign of bullying must end. The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. It is clear that it is in everyone's best interest for the SCS to be the free and open waterway that history has intended.

The United States stands with our Allies and Partners in the Indo-Pacific in upholding their sovereign rights and interests. We will sail, fly, and operate together in accordance with international law. At U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, we reject all attempts to impose “might makes right” throughout the region. We support the international community in defense of freedom of the global commons and respect for the sovereignty of all nations.

My best regards, 

P. S. DAVIDSON

Admiral, U.S. Navy

220844-US-M-AP17-2

The second inspiration was a recent book that I am listening to while walking the dog, driving in the car, or working from home at my desk - https://us.macmillan.com/series/ajohnmathersonnovel. While I am not a doomsday advocate, I know that preparation is key prior to any potential devastation and there can never be enough effort to that effect, whether for your loved ones or your neighbor. In alignment with what our country is experiencing with cultural diversity challenges, knowing that you can turn to a fellow American for support should be part of our melting pot mentality. The audio book allows one to multitask while engaging the brain with intellectual topics, namely the reminder that every country has an identity and we are fortunate that ours (for the most part) is unified in purpose and desire. Even the current political environment reminds each of us what we truly believe in, and what we want for our future generations.

Which brings me back to the purpose of this article, my first year of post-Navy employment. It has been educational. It has been enlightening. It has been challenging. It has allowed me to remove the miscellaneous military jargon and find the parallels between leadership and people management. Most of all, it has emphasized what I fundamentally enjoy about any task placed in front of me: it is ALL about the people!

No matter the business at hand, with people (and time), anything is possible. I am actively seeking a new opportunity #opentowork where I have direct impact on delighting customers and leading people toward greater accomplishments. Here's to the next year!