FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii- A new level of leadership emerged within the U.S. Army, Pacific with the June 5 promotion of Mr. Jim Scofield as the first Defense Intelligence Senior Level Special Advisor in the Pacific theater.
"This is the first senior, civilian position of its kind on the USARPAC staff," said Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commanding general, USARPAC. Mixon promoted Scofield assisted by Scofield's father, Bill, at Fort Shafter's Hale Ikena last Friday.
DISL positions are technical positions characterized by an emphasis on functional expertise, authorized at the Department of the Army level by the Secretary of the Army.
Scofield, who most recently served as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for USARPAC Intelligence from 2000 until present, has worked for U.S. Army Intelligence since 1985.
"His continuity and vision have proven to be essential to the evolution and modernization of intelligence in the Pacific," said Mixon. "His contributions include resourcing and rebuilding the capabilities in geospatial intelligence, measurements and signatures intelligence, and open-source intelligence."
Sandra Chun, USARPAC chief of civilian human resource directorate, spoke on behalf of Scofield as both friend and colleague, and presented him with a framed copy of the Army civilian corps creed.
"As part of the civilian personnel intelligence management system, he is equivalent to a brigadier general, so now you have to say 'Mr.' Scofield," she said."DISL are recognized leaders in their field and in their specialty. This position will allow him to be involved in planning and coordinating Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and responsibilities not only for the Army, but theater-wide."
Chun presented a brief history of the position of DISL.
"As civilians, the recognition and the establishment of the DISL in USARPAC recognizes the intelligence mission that we have in the Pacific theater, but equally important is that it recognizes the contribution of the civilian workforce, and for that, I am very proud," said Chun.
Scofield thanked those he worked with for all they have accomplished during his nine years with USARPAC.
"As a team we've accomplished so much; modernizing and growing our staff, establishing new intelligence collection capabilities in the theater Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance or ISR systems and integrating this into the PACOM intelligence enterprise," he stated.
Scofield stated plans with the new position to continue ISR building as well as many other plans and intentions.
"I hope to expand our knowledge of the growth challenges and opportunities we face in the Pacific Command and in the Asia-Pacific theater," he said. "This means that I want to better understand the sources of radicalism and terrorism in the theater and help develop new approaches to counter them in places as diverse as the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh."
"It also means strengthening our partnership and intelligence cooperation with Japan, Korea, and India, the key democratic powers in the Asia-Pacific with whom we, as a nation, share converging strategic interests," Scofield continued.
Scofield discussed other plans for his new position, to include spending more time studying China and focusing on civilian issues.
"We must continue to stress the significance and intrinsic value of public service itself," he said.
Scofield's promotion, according to Mixon, showcased not only the accomplishments of the individual but the importance of the Army civilian workforce itself. "This promotion highlights how important all our professional civilian workforce are to the Army and Army Pacific," he said.
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