CPPD Mobile Training Teams Provide On-demand Training

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Mobile Training Team (MTT) members with the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) have provided instruction to fleet Sailors in five countries during May.

CPPD is responsible for providing a wide range of personal and professional development courses and materials, including Navy instructor training, alcohol and drug awareness program training, suicide prevention, Bearings classes, and Personal Responsibility and Values Education and Training (PREVENT) classes, as well as General Military Training (GMT).

Additionally, CPPD's leadership training is delivered multiple times throughout a Sailor's career via command-delivered enlisted leadership training material and officer leadership courses in a schoolhouse setting.

MTTs allow a command not located near one of CPPD's 14 learning sites to receive required personal and professional development training in a cost efficient manner, allowing the command to devote more resources to achieving its mission.

"MTTs are a phenomenal resource we offer at CPPD for those commands having difficulty sending their Sailors to one of our learning sites either because of financial or operational concerns," said Capt. John Newcomer, CPPD commanding officer. "MTTs allow commands to receive all of their essential personal and professional development training that builds Sailors' critical thinking skills at a fraction of the total cost to the requesting command and the Navy."

CPPD's learning sites align under the command's Region East, located in Virginia Beach, Va., or Region West, located in San Diego. The most recent MTTs the regions delivered include courses in South Korea, the Bahamas, and Souda Bay, Greece; as well as stateside in Florida, Oklahoma, Nevada and North Carolina.

While the majority of CPPD's training is provided in a learning site classroom, instructors can provide a large variety of courses through MTTs based on the needs of commands. For example, the Dam Neck, Va., and San Diego learning sites' classroom offerings include ADAMS for Supervisors, for Facilitators, and for Leaders, Bearings, Command Managed Equal Opportunity, Command Training Team Indoctrination (CTTI), Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor (DAPA), Division Officer and Department Head Leadership Courses, Journeyman Instructor Training (JIT), Operational Risk Management, and PREVENT courses. These courses are also available through MTTs.

There are six learning sites in Region East, which has around 70 instructors; Region West has eight learning sites and approximately 60 instructors. Most of these instructors are qualified to deliver training as part of an MTT.

"When we determine an MTT is the most appropriate means of training, our instructors travel to the students instead of the students travelling to our learning sites," said Lt. Dan Nelson, operations department head at CPPD Learning Site Dam Neck, in Virginia Beach. "Depending on the class being taught, we typically send one to two instructors for a maximum class size of 25 students." The minimum class size for an MTT is 12 students.

Learning sites have instructors ranging from E-5 to O-5 who are all specially screened to provide the best personal and professional development training, according to Newcomer. While these instructors are primarily responsible for delivering classes at their assigned learning site, instructors from both regions support an average of two to four MTTs each week. In Fiscal Year 2011, CPPD Region East completed 206 and Region West completed 72.

MTT members provide an added level of agility through their ability to deliver more than one course while in an area. "The Learning Site San Diego Operations Department routinely works with requesting commands, course supervisors and CPPD headquarters to develop a schedule that balances the needs of the requesting commands with the availability of instructors while minimizing the total cost for the entire Navy," said Cmdr. Georges Younes, deputy director for CPPD Region West. "In some cases, our instructors remain in the same geographical area to provide multiple courses while reducing the total travel costs."

Cmdr. George Brickhouse, CPPD Region East director, said this is true of instructors in his region. "We encourage our instructors to cross qualify in more than one course to improve our flexibility," he said.

To obtain an MTT, a command accesses the Catalog of Navy Training Courses to locate the point of contact (POC) for the course being requested. The command then contacts the course POC, who forwards a training request form to the command. This form has required information such as the number of expected students, source of funding, location of training and the instructor who will be conducting the training.

"Generally, the requesting command pays for an MTT since it is in the command's best interest to provide the same amount of training for its personnel for a much lower cost," said Younes. "If the requesting command is not in the vicinity of one of our learning sites, it is much cheaper to pay for one or two instructors to come to the requesting command than for the command to pay for 25 students to travel to a learning site."

CPPD instructors welcome the opportunity to travel and provide fleet Sailors with the same training experience as if they were sitting in a learning site classroom. "As a DAPA and ADAMS instructor, I really appreciate the opportunity to do MTTs" said Yeoman 1st Class Michele Johnson, DAPA and ADAMS instructor at CPPD Learning Site Dam Neck. "It takes me out of my comfort area and exposes me to different experiences throughout the fleet worldwide."

Learning Site San Diego Operations Officer Lt. Kris Brazil had a similar perspective. "Providing instructor support outside our local area is an outstanding opportunity to understand the different challenges Sailors experience operating in different areas of the world," said Brazil, who also teaches the Division Officer Leadership Course and JIT. "I thoroughly enjoy instructing newly commissioned officers operating in both 3rd and 7th Fleets. Being able to understand their different environments and adapt my instructor style to provide encouraging and impactful mentorship is truly one of the perks of my job."

Newcomer said he is proud of the quality of training CPPD instructors provide, regardless of location. "Every member of the CPPD team is committed to developing Sailors strong in moral courage who exemplify Navy core values, and embody equal opportunity and personal and professional accountability. Whether teaching at a learning site or as an MTT member, our instructors provide Sailors the tools to lead with courage, respect and trust, and mentor future leaders to do the same."

CPPD is the Navy's learning center of excellence that equips Sailors to think critically, act responsibly, and lead proactively through its training courses and the Navy's voluntary education program.

Like CPPD on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Personal-and-Professional-Development/100056459206> CPPD: Where Mind Meets Mission.

For more news from Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit www.navy.mil/local/voledpao/.