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State of TRACOM August 2012

State of TRACOM
“Semper Docens, Semper Erudito”
August, 2012

Greetings Marines!
I want to give everyone a fair warning that this State of Address
might be lengthy but is full of important and key information you will
want to know! I will not go over the TRACOM Annual Awards here as the
listing can be found at:
https://cq.sfi.org/wp/sfmc-tracom-annual-awards/ but I will offer my
congratulations once again to the Team Delta inductees and the
students who earned their awards.
If you missed my announcement about the new Deputy Commanding Officers
for TRACOM, they are Colonel Brian Pickett of 5BDE for Doctrine and
Brigadier General Travis Littou of 12BDE for Administration. At the
writing of this address, the email forwarders for these two gentlemen
have not yet been set up but I will post the information to the Corps
L and the SFMC Facebook page as soon as they are. Travis, Brian, my
Sergeant Major/TRACOM SGM Mark Polanis, and myself are all looking
forward to serving the most important and key element to the
SFMCA…YOU!
Now, I have a few open branch director positions and a few staff
positions that I want to announce. *However*, please pay attention to
a few guidelines. I will not accept an application that simply says
“I’ll work in whatever billet you need me to” because while I
sincerely appreciate the enthusiasm, the command team wants to make
sure that any potential candidate for any position in TRACOM and the
SFMCA are good fits.
Open Branch Director Billets
Back at the end of July, longtime SFMCA staff member (former COTRACOM
and Commandant nonetheless) decided to retire from his final SFMCA
post as branch director of Strategy & Tactics. The Command Team and
Staff here at TRACOM wish Lieutenant General John Roberts all the best
and send our warmest regards with thanks and much respect for all he
has done for the Corps and for the academy. Bon Voyage, General
Roberts!
Also, earlier this month, I was approached by Colonel Eric Schulman
who expressed an interest to let someone else have the reins at the
Aerospace branch, and with a heavy heart, I accepted his resignation.
He asked to stay on until a new branch director is appointed and I
happily agreed. I have great confidence and faith in Colonel Schulman
that the transition process to a new director will be a smooth and
uneventful one without an interruption in service from Aerospace.
Master Gunnery Sergeant James “Fireball” Maarsingh has asked for a
reassignment within TRACOM due to his personal life and real world
military commitments. No one applied for or expressed an interest in
the XenoStudies: Cardassian School so I turned it over to him on 06
August 2012.
Now, on to the meat of this section: I am searching for branch
directors on a permanent basis for the following schools:
-Aerospace (AE)
-Infantry (IN)
-Leadership Development (LD)
-Strategy and Tactics (ST)
Here are the MINIMAL guidelines –
1. All TRACOM Staff members must have completed PD-10 (Marine Basic
Training), PD-20 and OTS;
2. Must be a member in good standing of STARFLEET;
3. Be at least 18 years of age;
4. Branch Directors must have completed every course offered by their
Branch up to and including the –30 level coursework (Bachelor’s of
Military Science);
5. If a staff member is appointed to a position within TRACOM, and
that person has not completed the requirements for the position,
he/she shall have 60 days to complete the requirements or be asked to
resign the position;
6. All candidates should review the TRACOM Policies and Procedures
Manual paying close attention to the duties outlined in sections 3.01,
3.02, 3.04 Doctrine Section sub-section Branch Directors, and section
3.05 IN FULL.
Please send your ‘Fleet resume, a letter of intent, and why you feel
you would make a valuable addition to the Training and Doctrine Staff
to me at tracom at sfi-sfmc.org.
Open Staff Billets
Brigadier General Bruce O’Brien, our current Commandant, has expressed
a desire to turn over the directorship of his two charter programs,
namely the Marine Occupational Specialty Certification Program (MOSC)
and the Marine Unit Readiness Program (MURP). These two programs will
require an exquisite attention to detail and prolific record keeping.
The MURP is described as: The purpose of this program is to combine
the efforts of Starfleet crews taking Academy classes (SFA or SFMCA).
In the past, members took classes individually for their own
edification, receiving promotion points and/or ribbons for earning
each diploma. (OTS and OCC were the only Academy courses that affected
the entire Vessel.) The MURP is designed to provide a platform in
which Starfleet members can pool their diplomas for the good of the
Unit. https://sfmca.sfi-sfmc.org/murp.php
The MOSC is described as: The Marine Occupational Specialty
Certification Program (MOSC) has been set-up to compliment the Marine
Unit Readiness Program (MURP) which enables marines to receive
acknowledgement for the successful training completed for certain
jobs, through the various Branches. Such acknowledgement gives clear
indication of an individual’s qualification for certain posts or
specialities in the Branch of Service (BOS) within which they have
chosen to operate. This can be applied to a range of BOS thus making
the Marine a highly-qualified, multi-trained soldier of great value to
his unit. https://sfmca.sfi-sfmc.org/mosc.php
BEFORE YOU SEND ME YOUR INFORMATION **please** go to the websites and
read the entire job description and make absolutely sure that if
appointed, you will have the time and commitment necessary for the
successful completion of either billet. They may not seem labor
intensive, but be aware there are currently 594 different MOSs
currently in existence and it will be a part of your job as MURP or
MOSC to assist the COTRACOM, along with the branch directors, in the
maintenance of the MOS Manual and descriptions.
Please send a STARFLEET/SFMC resume and a letter of intent to me at
tracom at sfi-sfmc.org.
The next staff positions we are looking for right now are staff
writers. A staff writer is someone who likes to research a provided
topic, compile the information either for inclusion into an already
existing manual OR create a whole new manual, and possibly create a
course (or courses) from the information. You will work under the
supervision of the DCO-DOCTRINE and can be asked to work on a
collaboration effort or as an individual. Please note a staff writer
position will not be considered “full time” and will be used on an “as
needed” basis.
The application process will close at midnight CDT on 05 September
2012 (Wednesday) and I will announce the branch directors and staff by
the following Sunday at the latest. Good luck and I look forward to
making difficult decisions!
In closing, I want to remind everyone that the members of your General
Staff are always here to help you, guide you, and instruct you in any
way we can. Always feel free to ask us a question and our individual
email addresses are provided on the main SFMC site (www.sfi-sfmc.org).
Until next time, Tiny out!
—
In Service,
Gary “Tiny” Hollifield, Jr.
Major General, SFMC
Commanding Officer, TRACOM
tracom at sfi-sfmc.org]]>