CPPD fine tunes Operational Risk Management Applications and Integration course

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Instructors from the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) trained seven prospective instructors at CPPD Learning Site Dam Neck June 11-14 to teach the new Operational Risk Management Applications and Integration (ORM A&I) course.

The ORM A&I course fulfills a requirement in Chief of Naval Operations Instruction 3500.39C for commands to have two Sailors - one officer and one senior enlisted (or civilian equivalent) - trained in ORM A&I. CPPD is the designated Curriculum Control Authority for ORM A&I, working closely with the Naval Safety Center, the ORM A&I course curriculum model manager.

"The ORM A&I course is a command's opportunity to understand how to better apply and fully integrate ORM principles in the work environment as well as during off-duty time," said CPPD Commanding Officer Capt. J.P. Newcomer. "This course fits nicely with CPPD's commitment to providing Sailors with the tools to assess risk and apply critical thinking skills to make sound personal and professional decisions. With the understanding and application of the principles in this course, Navy personnel and their commands will be able to increase their mission readiness."

While the new two-day course is scheduled to formally begin Oct. 1, CPPD is already delivering the ORM A&I course through two main Learning Sites - Dam Neck and San Diego. Course attendees are Sailors entering a role as their command's safety ORM managers or assistants.

The course development process began with an ORM A&I Course Human Performance Requirements Review (HPRP)Conference held April 13-14, 2011, at CPPD. Curriculum developers began the design process that October, with a focus on the data collected during the HPRR. CPPD worked closely with the Naval Safety Center to capture the essential elements needed to build the course from scratch.

Two of CPPD's ORM A&I certified instructors from Learning Site (LS) Dam Neck, Va., taught the pilot course at CPPD June 6-7. This was followed by a post-pilot conference June 8. The 10 attendees completing the course pilot included four prospective Train-the-Trainer (TTT) participants from CPPD LSs in San Diego; Mayport, Fla.; and Bangor, Wash. Four CPPD course monitors were assigned to serve as timekeepers and recorders. One hour at the end of each training day was allocated for trainers/observers to ask any questions and provide feedback.

"The revised ORM A&I training delivers a streamlined approach in a shared classroom environment that provides skills and resources to ORM managers and specialists that's clearer to understand and more effective to integrate," said Senior Chief Fire Controlman Anthony Colliver, ORM A&I course manager.

Students provided positive feedback regarding the latest addition to the ORM A&I course, Time Critical Risk Management (TCRM). TCRM is not intended to replace the idea of the ORM 5-Step process but instead reinforces it in a "time critical" environment, according to Colliver.

"The most challenging aspect of the course pilot was coordinating the pilot dates around the busy CPPD Learning Sites' schedules," he said. "The success of the course pilot was due in large part to dedication and professionalism of the participating CPPD Learning Sites."

One of the main benefits of ORM A&I is that "applying the ORM process will help commands reduce mishaps, lower injury and property damage costs, provide for more effective use of resources, improve training realism and effectiveness, and improve the command's overall readiness," he said. "It is an effective tool for maintaining readiness in peacetime and success in combat because it helps conserve assets, so they can be applied at the decisive time and place."

A full course schedule for fiscal year 2013 will be available for the fleet in the near future, according to Colliver. "The course will primarily be available at CPPD Learning Sites in Dam Neck, Mayport, San Diego and Bangor. We will also have some pre-scheduled Mobile Training Teams (MTT) to accommodate locations routinely requiring the training. Commands can ask for additional MTTs through the four Learning Sites but will only be available if schedules and resources can accommodate them."

Newcomer said, "ORM is a decision making tool - used by our personnel at all levels - to increase operational effectiveness by anticipating possible hazards and reducing the potential for loss, which increases our probability of a successful mission. As an aviation maintenance guy, I'm a big believer in applying ORM - I've seen it make a life and death difference more than once."

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. It 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, Personal Responsibility and Values Education and Training classes, and General Military Training. 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.

For more information about the Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD), visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cppd/.

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