From H1N1, to new connectivity between services, to lessons learned from the
State Funeral exercise, National Capital Region leaders briefed Maj. Gen. Karl Horst at the JFHQ-NCR Commander's Conference meeting on Tuesday, January 12 at Andrews Air Force Base.
The conference was not only a chance for leaders to discuss pertinent issues affecting the NCR. It was also an opportunity for what Rear Adm. Patrick Lorge, Commandant, Naval District of Washington, called, 'Hand Con,' or using friendships to solve problems. "The benefit of these briefings is to create relationships and create dialogue while you're sitting down and talking to leaders of other organizations, Lorge said.
"You create friendships in the 'joint-mode', which can help you in real-life situations."
There were a number of 'first's' at the meeting. It was the first commander's briefing for 2010. For Col. Carlen Chestang Jr., it was his first commander's briefing as MDW chief of staff. It was the first commander briefing for Lt. Col. Robert Manning, MDW's new director of public affairs.
After a briefing on how connectivity and technology are being shared among services in the NCR, Horst agreed and said, "I think this is the future of where we're going."
In addition to the activities involved in MDW's joint mission, Phil Fowler, director of ceremonies for MDW, briefed the group not only on this year's ceremonial support in the NCR, but also highlighted how MDW elements came together in 2009 as a team whether it was at Arlington National Cemetery or for events at The White House.
With 2010 in its infancy, and after hearing the many events JFHQ-NCR will be involved in during 2010, Horst closed the meeting by saying, "I appreciate this opportunity to get together and talk about issues affecting all of us. Thanks for the great support."
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