SURFLANT to Host Enlisted Leader Development Town Hall
22 February 2022
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK --
As the Navy brushes off the dust on many programs, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one, in particular, is needing a reboot. The Enlisted Leader Development (ELD) Town Hall will be offered here in Norfolk at CEP-86, on Feb. 24, 25, and March 3, 2022.
ELD is a multi-day course that covers leadership, ethics, and philosophy under the Culture of Excellence program initiated in 2019. It is the next level of leader development for Sailors utilizing a holistic approach and facilitation techniques.
“This is just a reboot due to COVID-19. Since we lost our drum beat due to the pandemic, now is the time to get it back for our Sailors,” Naval Surface Force Atlantic (SURFLANT) Force Master Chief Jason Knupp said.
The goal is to engage and educate not only the Command Navy Leader Development Facilitators (C-NLDF) but also any E-7 through E-9 who is interested in becoming an engaged C-NLDF who can then take the information back to their commands to implement and train accordingly.
“What the fleet-wide triads need to understand about ELD is, it will improve not only the individual Sailor but the crew as a whole,” said Knupp.
Gunner’s Mate Senior Chief Jessica Harrison, the SURFLANT Assistant Force Culture of Excellence spoke further upon the Sailor-centric curriculum and how it is different from the traditional form of Navy learning.
“ELD is an investment in our Sailors. This is the time we need to devote to our Sailors, not just personally but professionally,” said Harrison. “I think it is fantastic that our E-3s and E-4s are starting with the Foundational Leader Development Course and being educated as their career grows. Growing through Intermediate Leader Development as E-5s to Advanced Leader Development as E-6s, they are getting something taught to them that I, myself, did not receive until I was an at the Senior Enlisted Academy.”
Harrison and other SURFLANT leaders will travel to Bahrain, Rota, and Mayport after the inaugural Town Halls in Norfolk to host ELD Town Halls for area Sailors in concert with the CNSL Warrior Toughness Roadshows.
“When we facilitate these courses and we qualify command facilitators, oftentimes I hear ‘Why did we not get this out sooner?’,” said Harrison. “A majority of the overarching training that we are doing now is a continued training towards a Culture of Excellence. It falls under everything. We need to get them into these courses so they can be ready to fight.”
In August 2019, the Chief of Naval Operations announced the ELD continuum’s establishment, officially replacing Petty Officer Selectee Leadership courses. The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy launched working groups with the goal of improving our enlisted leader’s development process. After more than a year of study, extensive fleet input and feedback from professional education centers such as the Naval Leadership and Ethics Center (NLEC) and the Senior Enlisted Academy, those working groups developed a comprehensive plan for ELD that integrated with existing frameworks such as the Leader Development Framework and a Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority.