Developing strong, adaptive leaders who embody Military Sealift Command’s (MSC’s) vision of “United We Sail” is the focus of newly developed training tailored for shipboard leaders.
The Civilian Mariner Leadership Training is a 6-day pilot course co-created by MSC’s training development team and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). The curriculum explores concepts of leading with both authority and empathy, while balancing a mission focus and “people-first” mentality.
“The course took two years to create and resulted in a 13-module leadership program curriculum,” said Capt. George McCarthy, who serves as the MSC liaison to the USMMA. “This course was built in collaboration with our longstanding partner, the USMMA; and incorporates published leadership content from a large swath of sources.”
Held at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk, Virginia, the course began Oct. 31, with opening remarks and a program overview by McCarthy, and showcased key speakers, presentations, group case studies, team building exercises and panel discussions with a multitude of team facilitators over the course of the week.
“Many other leadership courses focus on a method or style of leadership,” McCarthy said. “Our course was designed with a less traditional learning method and carefully structured to better educate our students for more practical skills to implement in current and future workforce environments.”
During the week, the class delved into core values of positive leadership with topics such as the difference between leadership and management, emotional intelligence, ethics, followership, toxic leadership, leading teams, leading change, leader development and more. The key student outcomes were to increase self-awareness, strengthen leadership capabilities, demonstrate peer-to-peer leadership that will build trust and accountability, and cultivate healthy command climates.
“Part of academics and learning is to encourage critical thinking, to be more confident in your reasoning and decision making and do away with some of the myths of leadership—Specifically that command and control is the only way you can lead,” said Capt. Preston DeJean, United States Maritime Service, USMMA, a developer and facilitator of the course.
Col. Patrick Keane III, a retired Marine and USMMA faculty member for leadership and ethics, had the opportunity to not only assist in building the program, but facilitate the course as well.
One of the topics Keane spoke on was the importance of authenticity in leaders and the impact it can have on the command and the crew.
“Being authentic and authentic leadership is an important part of positive leadership because it creates a consistency,” said Keane. “You need to have a lifetime of personal and organizational growth to remain authentic.”
The course provided a space where MSC shipboard leaders were able to collaborate, exchange ideas during group discussions, and hone approaches to scenarios during case studies.
“The course was beneficial in understanding various ways of being a compass to guide and mentor my crew to true north, instead of always directing. The goal is to get them to understand the bigger picture,” said Capt. Alexis Callahan, Master of USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3). “Also beneficial was the collection of topics covered by the MSC Chaplain on ways to manage stress, nutrient, sleep and support for both myself and how to incorporate it into bettering the ship environment.”
The course was created for top MSC leadership, but the team hopes to broaden developmental opportunities of the program to a wider audience and on a larger scale.
“The stretch goal is that it will eventually go down to the rest of the officers and then possibly to the crew,” said McCarthy. “And further down the road, the goal is to become a model in the industry.”
Upon concluding the week-long course, the 16 participants were not only awarded a certification of completion, but also are the plank owners to the first graduating class of the pilot course.
“Good leaders set the tone and climate for an institution and ultimately can pave the way for a successful command,” Keane said. “We want every person at MSC to be successful, whether they are leading or following.”
MSC exists to support the joint warfighter across the full spectrum of military operations, with a workforce that includes approximately 6,000 Civil Service Mariners and 1,100 contract mariners, supported by 1,500 shore staff and 1,400 active duty and reserve military personnel.
| Date Taken: | 11.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.02.2025 12:54 |
| Story ID: | 552748 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
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This work, Military Sealift Command Pilots CIVMAR Leadership Training, by Molly Burgess, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
