FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- There are many opportunities for Defense Department civilians to grow in their careers, if they know how to take advantage of them -- and Ellen Helmerson, deputy chief of staff for G1/4, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, visited Fort Leonard Wood last week to tell them how.
"I was honored to have Mrs. Helmerson here; she is an outstanding mentor, leader and advocate for the Centers of Excellence and we are blessed to have her," said Dr. Rebecca Johnson, Deputy to the Commanding General at Fort Leonard Wood.
A member of the Senior Executive Service, Helmerson oversees military and civilian personnel, logistics, engineering and facilities, Base Realignment and Closure, Installation Management liaison, safety, history, and equal opportunity functions for TRADOC Headquarters and the subordinate Centers of Excellence.
During her visit, Helmerson hosted a Civilian Professional Development session for military and civilian supervisors March 14 in Lincoln Hall Auditorium.
"What I want to talk to you about today is developing your abilities to respond to changes, preparing yourself for the new opportunities that are going to come along and improving your competitiveness, both to do your own job and to do other jobs," she said.
Helmerson listed some of the initiatives the Army has put in place to help Army civilians and urged supervisors to take advantage of them and help their subordinates do the same.
Initiatives include the Army Career Tracker, an online tool to help Army civilians manage their career program; the newly initiated Civilian Record Brief, a one-page career summary put together by the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center; and the Civilian Education System, in which civilians can enroll in leadership classes online.
"It's about how you can enable your force to improve, to enhance their capabilities," she said, to an audience of commanders, directors, command sergeants major and civilian leaders at the battalion level or higher.
Helmerson herself started working as a civil servant more than 30 years ago as a GS-2 clerk typist. "I was a summer hire in college and decided to make my career with the Army because I love the Army," she said.
During the next 30 years of working for the Army, Helmerson said she had about 25 different jobs. She was always looking for experiences to round out her resume, and volunteered for the tough projects in order to progress in her career. Today, she is a Tier II in the Senior Executive Service system.
"Now I'm in a position at TRADOC and in the Army to offer insight and advice and ideas on how we need to shape our Army and shape our civilian work force," she said.
At the session, she offered her "Top 10" list of things to do as an Army civilian, such as volunteering, becoming a mentor and accepting constructive criticism. She also encouraged supervisors to allow subordinates to attend school, such as the Army War College, to give them more opportunities to develop their careers.
"You need to demonstrate your support for change … through your words … and through your actions," she said.
Several attendees left the session with a sense of empowerment and appreciation for Helmerson's advice.
Richard Rodgers, technical director in the Maneuver Support Battle Lab, enjoyed hearing Helmerson's take on what Army leadership was looking for.
"It was interesting to come listen to Ms. Helmerson talk about some of the expectations from TRADOC for the civilians," he said.
Russ Gehrlein, operations officer for the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, said the session was the best professional development event he had ever attended.
"It's going to improve us as individuals, which eventually helps the organization, and then we as the supervisor have got to think about 'Just because I'm not able to take advantage of something, I'm at least going to try and develop my subordinates,'" said Gehrlein, who is in charge of one civilian and four military members.
"To force us to get together once in a while and think about stuff, it's going to improve the force," he said.
During her time on the installation, Helmerson held discussions with the Deputy to the Commanding General and Chief of Staff, along with members of TRADOC Staff, and they participated in a working luncheon where they provided guidance to Fort Leonard Wood staff.
Helmerson also spent time touring the post with stops at central issue and other maintenance complexes.
"It was great to have such a critical stakeholder and team here again to share with us what's happening at headquarters, to see the great things happening at Fort Leonard Wood, and to productively collaborate with the staff here," Johnson said.
For more information on Army Career Tracker, Civilian Records Brief and other tools for Army civilians, visit www.cpol.army.mil.
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