ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – The U.S. Army Sustainment Command’s Journey to Leadership program is open to all eligible personnel. Period.
And if you’re eligible but have a disability, Heather Tahja, program manager, wants you to know you shouldn’t let that stop you.
“JTL encourages and embraces workforce diversity and inclusiveness,” Tahja said. “We encourage and welcome all workforce members to apply and participate in JTL.”
JTL is ASC’s premier leadership program that many participants have been raving about since 2005. The program gives a deep dive into your own personal and professional skill sets, and provides the resources and tools to grow within each facet, stated a recent email released to the workforce.
It functions to create strong and competent leaders for mission success and sustainability into the future.
The thrust of the email is to alert the workforce that the JTL 2022-2023 program application window is now open through March 18. Any permanent Department of the Army Civilian and equivalent wage grade employee, as well as military personnel, are eligible to sign up.
And, JTL also welcomes personnel from other commands and organizations located at Rock Island Arsenal to enroll.
General guidelines for grade eligibility are: For JTL Tier 1, those employees up to GS-10 and WG equivalent may apply, and for Tier II, that is for GS-11 – GS-13, and WG equivalent. Likewise, those in the military ranks will be enrolled in the tier they and their supervisor believe would be the most beneficial based on their current needs and desires for their growth in leadership, Tahja said.
“There are situations where we would let someone in grade levels outside of those noted into each respective tier,” Tahja pointed out. “There are circumstances and situations where, for example, a GS-9 or GS-14 may be approved to attend Tier II and situations or circumstances where a GS-11 or GS-12 may take JTL Tier I.”
JTL Tier III will not be offered during this 2022/2023 period.
“We want to ensure that employees know that our theme is ‘All are welcome here,’” Tahja said. “We work hard to create an inclusive and positive team environment where participants can focus on investing in personal and professional growth throughout their journey.”
One recent graduate from Tier 1 was a machinist with the Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center. His disability is that he is deaf, third generation. He does not rely on reading lips, but signs very fluently and also uses the written word to communicate.
For Jeffrey DePaolis, his enrollment into the program was not what he originally thought the course was.
“By the title ‘Journey to Leadership’ I thought this course was going to help me get my Journeyman’s machinist card, which would make me marketable across the United States as a machinist. Since I thought that was what the course was, I jumped at the chance to join,” DePaolis explained.
“I was shortly into the first week of training of Tier 1 when my interpreters and I realized that this was not the course I thought it was,” DePaolis said.
Despite this new understanding, DePaolis stayed with the course.
“I did not consider dropping the course at that time. Once I realized what it was truly about I thought it would still be a good growth opportunity for my career,” he said.
Although he made this decision, it still wasn’t quite smooth sailing.
During the first week DePaolis had two onsite interpreters available which he said helped him “tremendously” since this portion of the course was taught virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the second week of the class, DePaolis, who has worked at RIA-JMTC for 15 years, said he experienced a “serious challenge” and did consider dropping the course as he no longer had the services of on-site interpreters.
During this teaching, he had three different interpreters connected to him virtually – one in Alaska, one in Texas, and one in Kentucky.
“Due to internet connectivity issues this was a huge challenge. Sometimes I couldn’t see the interpreters clearly or they couldn’t see me. The connection speed was lagging and I couldn’t adequately participate in the course that week,” DePaolis explained. “Ultimately, through the encouragement of my family and my boss, Mike Huebl, I decided to try my very best to get through that week. I’m so glad I did!”
During the third and final week of the course, DePaolis was able to have two onsite interpreters and complete course requirements and graduate. All this was possible thanks to JTL and his organization working together to accommodate his needs.
“There is not a disability that the program cannot accommodate,” Tahja said. “We work closely with EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] and command leadership to ensure that we fulfill any reasonable accommodations that participants may need to successfully participate in the program.”
While there haven’t been many JTL students in the past with a disability, JTL has always tried its best to accommodate, remembered Lisa Schuldt, former JTL program manager and now chief of ASC’s G3 (Operations) Training & Programs Branch.
“Over the course of the program, we’ve had three individuals – two in Tier II and one in Tier III – with physical handicaps requiring the use of a wheelchair. We accommodated both students by ensuring the individuals were able to access all the classroom features without any physical barriers,” Schuldt said.
“As part of the Tier III program, we have a TDY [temporary duty] requirement so we ensured that the facilities and transportation we used were accessible,” she said. “We wanted to ensure these students were able to get the most out of the program without having to worry about any potential barriers.”
And, like DePaolis, there was another student with hearing issues.
“One of the individuals had a hearing impairment that required the use of a personal amplifier. Our facilitators and the fellow class students were happy to support the use of this in order to ensure the student didn’t miss out on any of the curriculum or discussion,” Schuldt recalled.
Asked what he got out of the course, DePaolis said, “I learned so much about being a leader. I learned from so many others with different experiences than me. I also feel I was able to bring to light awareness of deaf culture and needs, as well as disabilities in general.
“I highly encourage anyone, regardless of disability, to take this course. I found the instructors and Heather to be very inclusive and welcoming,” DePaolis said. “I did not experience any barriers with these facilitators! They were beyond happy to help with any accommodations I needed.
“I would like to encourage people to be patient with people who may have a disability. They may communicate differently or have different needs for accessibility but what those employees bring to the table is vital to our organization’s success and growth,” he said.
To apply for JTL or for more information, go to: https://asc.aep.army.mil/sites/G37/g3tng/journeytoleadership/SitePages/Home.aspx
Or interested personnel can contact Tahja on MS Teams or at this email:
heather.m.tahja.civ@army.mil
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