About
Line of Effort 1
Provide tacit knowledge to those who are looking to better themselves.
I served in the United State Marine Corps from 1987 to 1991. I served in both Infantry and Security Force Sentry roles. While my initial training taught me what I needed for those roles as far as technical and tactical skills, there was something missing that kept me from excelling. After some searching, I found my answer at the Exchange at Camp Elmore, VA. The Marines Corps Non-Commissioned Officer's guide was a huge volume of expert "know how" on things like the "Posts of the Corps", administrative matters, and especially the proper care of uniforms. This was my first military experience with tacit knowledge, or knowledge gained through personal experience.
Line of Effort 2
Provide mentorship, particularly for explaining behind the scenes working of your unit or higher echelon.
In 1992, I joined the NY Army National Guard in an infantry role. While my tactical and technical skills were still up to the task, I had a huge gap in knowing how the Army and/or the Army National Guard did things. Luckily, I soon found a mentor in a fellow prior service Marine within the unit. It became important for me to understand the Modified Table of Organization and Equipment (MTOE), but more importantly the Unit Manning Roster (UMR). These concepts were not explained to NCOs at my level and were apparently considered "officer business" though I think only the Commander, 1st Sergeant, and the Active/Guard Reserver personnel were engaging with them.
Line of Effort 3
Serve as a conduit for those seeking to build their reference network for personal and professional growth.
In 2004, I was directly commissioned as a Military Intelligence officer into the 27th Infantry Brigade HQ. My learning curve was huge and as nice as the people in my new unit were, they didn't help me become trained. That was because I was expected to learn everything I needed to know while at my Officers Basic Course. For reasons I won't go into, that didn't happen the way it should have. I was left with the circumstance of having to train myself in many aspects of intelligence and even officership. My solution was to build a network of both personnel and written knowledge sources that I could reach out to for help. I was particularly aggressive with the doctrinal sources and websites with key resources.