An Intern’s Manpower and Force Management Course Perspective

THE PENTAGON, DC, UNITED STATES

04.25.2016

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Career Program 26

By: Erik Coleman, CP26 Intern, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Editors note ** Erik Coleman is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico and, after graduating from the University of New Mexico, he decided to leverage his collegiate running experience with a high school coaching job. Feeling the desire to serve his country, Erik enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he served six and a half years as a Yeoman. Within a month of his discharge, he accepted an intern position within the Army’s CP26 program so he could continue to serve those who wear the uniform. **

The most important thing that I learned while taking the Manpower and Force Management Course (MFMC) was that the centerpiece of the Army is its Soldiers. Having a background in personnel administration with the U.S. Coast Guard, it always perplexed me trying to understand how organizations fielded personnel with workload requirements. The MFMC provided by the Army’s Logistics University provided me with a very in-depth knowledge of the processes involved for manpower and force management. The sheer scope of information that the course covered in a two-week period, although overwhelming, was presented so well and descriptively that I consider it a must for an intern like me in the CP26 program.

Interning for and working with the USAFMSA for only a short amount of time, it was most beneficial to have this class early on in my training because it “set the course” for my future development. The instructor, Mr. Kirby Lampersberger, brought nothing but sheer enthusiasm to the world of manpower and force management. I looked forward to class on a daily basis to hear his insight and thoughts concerning the presentation material. His overwhelming knowledge on how the Army operates and how force management as a whole affects both the Army’s Generating and Operating forces was significant in my ability to grasp all the information thrown at me in a short amount of time. The exercises, as well as Mr. Lampersberger’s discussions concerning Total Army Analysis, The Five-Phased Approach and “Mother” Army, made this course remarkable and well worth it.

The practical exercises presented throughout the course, specifically the manpower study of a fictitious entity within the Army, gave me complete insight into how the Army fields its missions with the correct manpower and equipment. This course specifically outlined for me how a manpower study is accomplished, and allowed me to be an active participant in a manpower analysis. This exercise in particular enabled me to look outside USAFMSA and understand the difficulty that U.S. Army Manpower Analysis Agency has as an organization, and how its abilities to analyze manpower requirements ultimately affect taxpayer’s money. Our requirements are confined by the funding, so we have to manage workload requirements. In a time of constrained fiscal budgeting, Manpower and Force Management is a very important process. To understand how it plays its part with regards to congressional appropriations all the way up to manning and equipping the Soldier, was outlined very well by this course.

I cannot thank the instructors and the Army team with whom I attended this course, as well as the active duty personnel, because their different experiences aided in my understanding of the material presented.

• Date Taken: 04.25.2016
• Date Posted: 04.25.2016 13:46
• Story ID: 196434
• Location: THE PENTAGON, DC, US
• Hometown: ALBUQUERQUE, NM, US
• Hometown: FORT BELVOIR, VA, US