Do Pentagon SESers Really Need a Course on How Their Department Works?
Defense Department file photo
By
Bob Brewin
And, why pay a contractor to run it?
A Defense Department contract to educate new members of the Senior Executive Service on how the department works should definitely win an award for wasting money.
The Washington Headquarters Service – which provides overall support to folks who work in the Pentagon – awarded JRogers Consulting of Alexandria, Va., a $3.6 million contract for something called the Advanced Professional Executives Program, or APEX, which is “designed to provide newly appointed executives with both a practical and theoretical understanding of the structure and processes of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Combatant Commands, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the military departments.”
That’s not all, folks! APEX also “helps new leaders gain an enterprisewide perspective that encompasses expectations, opportunities and challenges currently facing our DoD leadership.”
APEX runs a week in the Pentagon followed by a sleep-away week at the combatant commands and “and selected military installations across the United States.”
Since anyone who has earned their SES stripes has probably already worked a long time for Defense, this whole exercise seems like a waste of time and money and could, if needed for the truly clueless, be replaced by some Power Point briefs run by a smart staff sergeant.
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