Source: United States Navy
Calhoun, a Selected Reserve member attached to U.S. Fleet Forces Command Maritime Operations Center (N3 FCC) in Norfolk, Va., initially thought of his idea during a mobilization exercise where he realized shifting many of the mobilization requirements to a secure mobile platform would make the process faster and more efficient for both Sailors and Navy Reserve Center staff.
“In this era of strategic competition, we must be ready on day one,” said Calhoun. “Empowering Sailors to use their mobile device to complete a significant portion of pre-mobilization requirements will improve the overall experience for the modern-day Sailor and save critical time during mass mobilizations to get warfighting-ready Sailors on station faster.”
The envisioned mobile application could reduce duplicative administrative requirements for both members and mobilization staff, save critical time by auto-populating data fields across multiple documents, provide real-time transparency and progress status for members and leadership throughout the process, and enable clear and customizable views and reports.
Additionally, the app could remove the difficulties some Reserve members have accessing CAC-enabled sites outside an NMCI environment and would “ensure our ability to mass mobilize, predictably, at scale, and with seamless administration activation workflows” as outlined in the Navy Reserve Fighting Instructions 2022.
“We are already moving out on the design for Lt. Cmdr. Calhoun’s mobile application,” said Mustin. “His idea to add mobile technology to our distributed activation process helps us achieve our goal of mobilizing the entire Selected Reserve force of 50,000 in 30 days, if required.”
i3 Waypoints is an approach to inventing: innovate something entirely new; improve on something already established; or integrate several ideas, products or processes rendering the former completely obsolete. Mustin introduced the annual competition to fast-track transformative ideas from across the Navy directly to the highest levels of the Navy Reserve, without filters or bureaucratic barriers.
One-hundred and seven submissions were received in a five-week period. Five final entries were subsequently chosen and presented to a panel hosted by Mustin during a taped session at Fort Meade, Md., June 28, 2022. The other panelists were retired Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis, Mr. Bruce E. Mosler, chairman, global brokerage of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., Navy Reserve Force Master Chief Tracy L. Hunt and 2021 Navy Reserve Sailor of the Year Chief Yeoman (Select) Jasmyn Phinizy.
“The large number of creative, thoughtful strategic ideas submitted in a relatively short timeframe far exceeded our original expectations,” said Mustin. “It demonstrates our Reserve Force’s commitment to innovate, improve efficiencies, and reduce administrative burdens, allowing us to focus on warfighting readiness – our one and only priority. With such an enthusiastic response from the force, and so many great ideas to modernize the way we do business, we saw enough in this inaugural event to commit to making i3 Waypoints an annual program. Very little is more important to us than keeping the direct pipeline open for creative ideas to flow to top leadership without filter or disruption.”
The other i3 Waypoints finalists and their submissions were:
- Lt. Brian Adornato, Naval Sea Systems Command, Surge Maintenance Sacramento: “Create a New Category of Personnel: Civilian Technicians”
- Cmdr. Bobby Hsu, Director of Navy Staff, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations: “Official Navy Reserve YouTube Channel”
- Cmdr. Sarah McGann, Navy Personnel Command (PERS-9), and Lt. Josh Didawick, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (MPT&E): “New Policy for Reserve Retirement Education Across the Career Continuum”
- Cmdr. Scott Mericle, Navy Reserve Operations, Plans and Policy (N5), Commander, Second Fleet: “Improve Active to Reserve Transition”
The streamlined broadcast can be viewed at:
https://www.navyreserve.navy.mil/Resources/I3-Waypoints/
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/850303
https://www.youtube.com/c/usnavyreserve