My New “About Page” (Draft)

Shane Purnell challenged us to take a few minutes to write a new about page.

“Bob applies 30+ years of experience in mlitary, government & private sector service to solving your process problems. Through the application of critical and creative thinking exercises, he assists you in identifying choke points and areas for improvement. Staying on top of emerging tools and best practices, he helps you leverage them to ensure your computer is working for you, rather than you working for it.”

Class Lesson 4 Learning HTML

Hello World

This is my very first web page created tonight after 7 PM

Grocery list

1. milk bread
2. eggs and bacon

if 7 < 10 then do something

if 8 > 5

An Exercise in Critical Thinking

Over the last seven years, while teaching at the Army’s Command & General Staff College, I strove to ensure my students departed as better critical thinkers than when they arrived.

critical thinking (n): the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion (1)

One aspect of critical thinking is looking at the situation from another perspective. Numerous phrases describe this problem solving approach: “put yourself in the other person’s shoes”, “think outside the box”, “think like the enemy”, etc.

Early on in the course, usually within the first two months, I presented a vignette to test how well they used that approach. The results, from over a dozen iterations, clearly revealed a failure to apply that approach to everyday decision making.  Below is the executive summary of my vignette, as sent to BG Mark O’Neill (then CGSC Deputy Commandant) in August 2006.

Executive Summary

A Colonel is briefing a group of Majors and they are very restless because they’ve all heard the exact same brief in the recent past.  The Colonel doesn’t know they have received it, but has noticed they are inattentive.  Eight have passouts saying they are one of the Majors, the other eight are the Colonel.  There are two choices that boil down to: A) raise hand and interrupt or B) do nothing.  Inevitably, a majority of the “Colonels” choose A and a majority of the “Majors” choose B.

Execution

Assuming a staff group of 16 students, I print out 8 of each of the two handouts (student.doc and cos.doc).  I then pass them out on separate sides of the room.  By splitting them up that way, it helps to minimize the chance of comparison between students next to each other and discovering the handouts are different.  Also, during the follow on discussion, it is easier to compare the two groups (“this side of the room said…”, for example).

TTP: If there is a LTC student (perhaps the section leader), or some other known strong personality, I’ll pass out the Colonel handouts on that side.  That person may be more likely than the others to consider the other point of view if assigned as the Major. [TTP = Tactics, Techniques & Procedures]

This is not tied to any particular lesson, just a hip pocket CE that I bring in sometime early in C200. When I do this, I usually do it as the very beginning of the first hour. [CE = Concrete Experience] [C200 was Strategy block of instruction in the core curriculum]

Prior to passing out the handouts, I tell them that it is to be done with no talking, write their answer on the sheet of paper and turn it over when they are done so that I know they are finished.  (Again, doing that to minimize possibility of compromising the “secret” that they have different sheets.)  I then put up the Power Point slide (choices.ppt) and wait for them to finish.

When they are done, I ask:  “How many chose A?” and/or “How many chose B?”  Then I’ll go to the side of the Majors, and ask one of them why they chose “B” (do nothing); after that I’ll do the same with one of the “Colonels” and ask them why they chose the “A” option. Somewhere during this process one or more of them may figure out that they are answering from different points of view.  If not, I lead them to it by asking “Why do you think there was such a divergence in the answers?”

At the end, I relate it back to CR/CT by emphasizing that when faced with a problem or dilemma, they are still not habitually looking at things from a different point of view. For if they had, nearly all of them would have chosen the “A” option.  (Usually I make this melodramatic, pointing out how “I failed” as their CR/CT instructor, etc.)

See my Critical Thinking Exercise presentation on SlideShare for more information, including instructions and materials necessary to execute the exercise.

(1) Dictionary.com, “critical thinking,” in Dictionary.com’s 21st Century Lexicon. Source location: Dictionary.com, LLC. https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical thinking. Available: https://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: August 15, 2009.

A (not so) Brief Bio

I grew up in mid-Michigan, in a small town (Birch Run) half-way between Flint & Saginaw. Upon graduation from Birch Run High School in 1983, I attended the University of Michigan on a Navy ROTC scholarship. Due to a variety of reasons (mostly immaturity involving alcohol and irregular class attendance), that did not work out so well.

While flipping burgers the next summer as a short-order cook at the Exit Restaurant, I realized a change was needed. Going back to Ann Arbor was cost prohibitive, so I joined the Navy, signing up for the Nuclear Power Program.

After a cold & snowy 12-week boot camp in Great Lakes, IL, I returned home in at Christmas 1984 and asked Ann Worden, now my wife of 24 years, to marry me. We married in early mid-May, one week before my graduation from Electricians Mate “A” School, coincidentally allowing me to forevermore say I was an E-3 (Navy Fireman) when I got married. Upon graduation I was promoted to E-4, Petty Officer Third Class.

My next duty station was the Navy Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL. We used the PCS (permanent change of station) move driving from Michigan to Florida as our honeymoon. Leaving Michigan, we went the long way, over to Washington, DC and then down along the coast, using the scenic US-17 more than I-95.

While at Nuclear Power School, I applied for, and was accepted into, the Nuclear Enlisted Commissioning Program (NECP). Despite my acceptance into the NECP, I did not have orders yet, so I remained in the training pipeline. After graduation as the #1 Electrician’s Mate, and #2 overall out of 600+ students, we moved to Saratoga Springs, NY for assignment at Balston Spa Navy Nuclear Power Training Unit (aka “prototype”). One-third of the way through that training, the Navy finally figured out what I already knew – I could not complete the program before leaving to attend Auburn University. So I was removed from the training program and assigned to a paint team to prepare for an upcoming inspection. On the bright side, that meant 8-hour days (instead of 12-hours) and I also met Dave Burdick, my future brother-in-law. He was also leaving for NECP, to attend the University of Kansas, we did not meet again for several years.

In May 1986, we moved from New York to Auburn, AL, buying our first home – a 12′ x 52′ trailer. Rachel, our daughter, was born in September 1987. We made room for her crib in our bedroom, as the 2nd bedroom in the trailer was the computer room/office, probably not surprising to anyone that knows me. In 1988 we added an addition to our trailer for Laura Worden, my wife’s sister, who came down from Michigan to attend school at Auburn. Graduating from Auburn with a BSE in Computer Engineering in August 1989, I then attended Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Newport, Rhode Island, starting in October and commissioned in February 1990. (Coincidentally, that established a linkage to my boot camp experience, as I ended up “shoveling snow” in both my enlisted and officer training programs.)

In my final year at Auburn we sold our trailer and moved into a townhouse for several months, then Ann and Rachel moved in with Debbie Manning, another Navy wife while her husband Jeff and I attended OCS. Enroute to OCS, another Auburn NECP graduate, Kendall Gennick, and I stopped off at Atlantic City, New Jersey. (An experience that could warrant a completely separate post sometime in the future.)

Moving to Orlando, for the second time, we lived in an apartment just a couple miles south of our first one, along 436 on Orlando’s east side. The officer version of Nuclear Power School differs from the enlisted curriculum, so I had to repeat the experience. We were expecting our second child, Aaron, who was born in May 1990. I requested and received a deferment to start Nuclear Power School in June so I would not miss class due to his birth. Throughout March, April & May I worked as the Orlando Naval Training Center (NTC) Command Duty Officer (CDO), along with Kendall Gennick who was also deferred to a later class. While working as the CDO, Kendall and I met Daniel Tressler, a Navy Sailor on temporary duty while recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Dan later went on to achieve incredible success at the University of Florida and is now a partner at the Unger Law Group in Orlando, FL. Kendall is now the Commanding Officer of the USS Milius (DDG 69). At Nuclear Power School, I ran into Dave Burdick again, who I’d last seen before leaving New York to attend Auburn.

In December 1990, we moved from Orlando to Goose Creek, SC for my assignment at the Moored Training Ship 635 (MTS-635) (aka “prototype” again). The training there consisted of 12-hour days in a shift-work basis, three different shifts: 8AM – 8PM, noon to midnight, and 8 PM – 8 AM. Each shift would last for a week, with 2-4 days off for transition to the next rotation. Upon qualifying, we were reduced to 8-hour days and stood proficiency watches. But, in my case, I ended up not standing those watches, instead I was assigned to customize a program that simulated the reactor’s response to various transients. This was the first, but no means the last, occasion that my programming skills worked out to my advantage.

Late that summer we moved to Groton, CT for my attendance at the Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC). I had follow-on orders to the PCU Maryland (SSBN 738) under construction at the Electric Boat shipyard. Dave was also in my SOBC class, with orders to the PCU Nebraska (SSBN 739). SOBC finished in November, the family and I went home to Michigan for Thanksgiving. While home, we mentioned Dave to Ann’s sister Laura, ended up introducing them and they eventually married.

Upon commissioning in June 1992, the USS Maryland was assigned to the Kings Bay Navy Submarine Base. Ann and I moved down to St. Marys, GA and bought our first real house. The next year, prior to the USS Nebraska moving down, the house next door came up for sale. So two sisters from Michigan, both married to Navy submarine officers, ended up as neighbors in Georgia! On the Maryland, assigned to the Gold crew, I started out as the Reactor Control Assistant (RCA) and finished up my tour as the Communications Officer (COMMO). While studying for the Nuclear Engineer Exam, I met Duane Sand – as it turns out, we had a very similar background, including sharing the exact same birthday.

My next assignment (1995-1997) was as an instructor at the Nuclear Power School in Orlando, our 3rd time stationed there for those that lost count. This time we had school-age children, so we were more selective about where we lived, choosing SW Orlando so they could attend the Dr. Phillips Elementary School. While there, I taught Reactor Dynamics (RD) & Core Characteristics (CC) to the officer students. RD is the nuclear physics of how the reactor works and responds. CC gets into the “how & why” of the actual physical construction & arrangement of the core & fuel cells. While in Orlando, I attended Webster University, earning a MA in Computer Resources & Information Management. I also enrolled in their sequential MBA program.

In 1996, we took an extended “Great American Vacation” road trip from Orlando, FL to Monterey, CA to visit Dave & Laura. After his time on the Nebraska, Dave attended the Naval Postgraduate School. The entire trip was a little over three weeks, with different routes on the way there and back. Unknown to us at the time, that trip was going to set the stage for another trip nearly 10 years later.

Leaving Orlando in the summer of 1997, we once again moved up to Connecticut, this time to attend the Submarine Officer’s Advanced Course (SOAC). Following SOAC, a six-month course, we moved back to Georgia, into the house we had kept, for my tour as the Navigator/Operations Officer on the USS Nebraska (SSBN 739)(GOLD). My first CO on the Nebraska was William Porter, now the CEO of WFS Defense. In the summer of 2000, we visited Dave & Laura in Montgomery, AL where Dave was attending the Air Force Staff College. Going to school again looked like a good gig, and he had follow-on orders to U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, NE, so I requested to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in Fort Leavenworth, KS. In May 2001, we sold our house in Georgia and moved to Kansas.

While on leave enroute, I found out I had screened XOSS (Executive Officer, Submarine Support). Sometimes known as an “alternate list” in other services, XOSS means “you’re good enough to be an XO, but we don’t have enough XO slots for you.” More significantly, it meant I was able to retain my submarine pay and nuclear power bonus for an additional three years.

Shortly into my attendance at CGSC, I found they had an opening for a Navy instructor to meet the Joint manning requirements. With our kids in middle school, it was a great opportunity to have some family stability. Webster University has a satellite campus at Fort Leavenworth, so I was able to complete the MBA started in Orlando. We purchased a house (across the street from where we rented the first year) in May 2002 and have been here 7 years now.

Upon retiring in the summer of 2005, I was hired on as a Department of the Army Civilian to continue teaching in the Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations. Remember that big coast-to-coast trip in the mid-90s? Well, we figured out the entire family had been everywhere except the Northwestern U.S. So we bought a pop-up tent trailer, pulled it behind our Honda Odyssey and spent three weeks, a little over 5000 miles, exploring that area of the country. Upon crossing from Washington into Oregon, Ann, Rachel, Aaron and I completed our goal of visiting all of the lower 48 states.