Coming full circle, a workforce of subject material consultants from the command’s Assurance Directorate just lately carried out its first follow-on evaluation, visiting Navy Expeditionary Fight Command (NECC) in Virginia Seashore, Virginia. NAVSAFECOM is tasked by the chief of naval operations with evaluating instructions’ skill to adjust to established insurance policies and processes and to make sure the assessed command is managing, mitigating and speaking threat successfully. This entails assessing whether or not instructions are precisely figuring out threat, speaking threat and taking accountability of threat on the acceptable stage.
“Earlier than the primary evaluation in 2022, the NECC commander had just lately assumed command and it was encouraging to see that the processes he applied after our first go to have been mirrored as optimistic threat administration instruments in our second go to,” mentioned Capt. Christopher Roberto, workforce lead for the second go to. “The second evaluation went easily on account of the NECC workers’s excellent communication and eagerness to supply info.”
“I’m happy with my workforce and the hassle they invested to get us to the place we’re as we speak,” mentioned Rear Adm. Brad Andros, NECC commander. “Our command now identifies threat, communicates threat and assigns threat to the proper threat proprietor much more successfully as a result of transparency of our conversations, small course of enhancements and embracing the Get Actual, Get Higher tradition shift.”
“Get Actual, Get Higher is about fostering a tradition that rewards honesty, humility and transparency so we will problem-solve collectively and embrace steady enchancment amongst our ranks,” Andros mentioned. “That is what drives warfighting benefit in an period of strategic competitors. Due to processes like the peace of mind evaluation, I do know we’re higher ready to propel our pressure technology ahead as a kind command, so when the Navy’s expeditionary fight forces are despatched into fight, we win.”
Andros famous the 2022 evaluation workforce helped his group develop and implement higher strategies to determine, talk and account for threat throughout his total sort command, comprising completely different expeditionary warfare communities, every with distinctive cultures.
“Establishing aligned processes throughout the completely different warfare communities has solely benefited our command and our forces,” he added.
Over the previous yr and a half, the Naval Security Command’s threat assurance assessments throughout all ranges, from the unit to the main command stage, have come a great distance in elevating threat consciousness and understanding the significance of creating self-assessing and self-correcting processes and behaviors.
“Organizations most frequently count on the scope of our evaluation will most closely concentrate on occupational security and well being,” Roberto mentioned. Whereas the evaluation groups do have a look at this space, it’s a minor piece of their threat assurance endgame.
“The processes we have a look at may be wherever in a company and infrequently contain elements past a unit’s management,” Roberto famous. “In these instances, we assess a unit’s mitigation methods, however they’re typically shocked after we touch upon exterior threat areas in our stories.”
The workforce chief mentioned, “No matter whether or not a commander can fund or repair a threat space, the actual fact it exists will stress a company’s skill to fulfill mission and stop pointless hurt to personnel and gear.”
As soon as a company is scheduled for evaluation, Roberto mentioned the peace of mind evaluation workforce assembles and will get to work. “Usually, there are 4 phases to every evaluation,” he mentioned. “Within the first part, we conduct administrative preparation that features schedules, introductions, safety and entry necessities, account institution, and we additionally generate questions for the file for management.”
The second part consists of accumulating and reviewing command-related knowledge and directives. In the course of the third part, the workforce interviews workers members and leaders throughout the evaluation week, with the final part consisting of post-visit follow-up and report preparation.
“We wish to full all evaluation by the final day of an evaluation go to however typically there are issues that require additional knowledge assortment or coordination with outdoors entities, so this may increasingly lengthen an evaluation interval’s actions by as a lot as 10 days,” Roberto mentioned.
Roberto acknowledged communication throughout the workforce is essential. “Crew members don’t hesitate to share their findings with one another and with the assessed group as gadgets are uncovered,” he mentioned. “We regularly use our workforce members for a second opinion or validation of outcomes. Many instances, a command directorate will level out their identified threat assurance shortcomings and we don’t hesitate to look throughout directorates for comparable behaviors or processes. Chasing every potential threat space to the suitable depth will at all times require cross-communication amongst workforce members and staffs.”
The Assurance Directorate additionally has the good thing about getting an outdoor perspective for his or her assessments.
“We deliver our United Kingdom companion [Lt. Cmdr. James Newbury] on nearly each go to,” Roberto mentioned. “Apart from his experience as an aviation upkeep and engineering officer, he typically identifies processes that appear regular to us, however are cumbersome and overly advanced when considered by means of his lens. The Royal Navy is a a lot smaller and leaner pressure and we might do effectively to be taught classes in effectivity from their consultants.”
Andros supplied the next recommendation to instructions going through their first assurance assessments: “Be clear. Be candid and be forthcoming.”
“We enormously admire the time and devoted effort the Naval Security Command workforce has invested in our command and the Navy’s Expeditionary Fight Power,” Andros mentioned. “We’re higher ready to combat and win our nation’s wars due to their threat assurance evaluation course of.”
Finally, Roberto believes the inherent worth the Assurance Directorate gives is that it shines a highlight on points which are prevalent throughout the naval enterprise so leaders on the highest ranges can think about these points when formulating resourcing or different priorities.
“The danger areas we determine are not often simply ‘fastened’ or mitigated and infrequently require a multi-echelon threat administration method. As long as we will improve the identification, communication and accounting of threat, we are going to supply a beneficial software to commanders.”
