“With NAVSUP taking up so many seats in JOPEC classes over the last several years, facilitating a joint class here at our headquarters was only natural,” said Lt. Cmdr. Matt Carroll, operational contract support lead at NAVSUP headquarters. “We appreciate the support provided by the JOPEC Mobile Training Team and their instructors that made this course possible for NAVSUP at Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg.”

JOPEC is a joint certified course that develops the skills and provides knowledge for OCS personnel and command staff to plan for and execute contracted support across the range of military operations at the combatant command, joint task force and service component levels.

This particular class marked the second in-person offering of the course since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused a shift to online instruction.

JOPEC is facilitated by a mobile training team (MTT) containing three instructors. The MTT providing this class is assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff J4 (Logistics) Directorate based out of the Pentagon.

The course material is geared for the major or lieutenant commander joint professional military education (JPME+) student studying at the operational level of war. Some JOPEC class discussions occur at the strategic theater level. The typical ranks for JOPEC students are senior company grade or field grade commissioned officers, senior non-commissioned officers, mid-level to senior government civilians and contractors assigned to a position responsible for OCS planning and execution. The class is typically hosted by combatant commands with students in the class coming from contracting or logistics backgrounds.

Rear Adm. Peter Stamatopoulos, NAVSUP commander and 49th chief of Supply Corps, paid students a visit during the class and spoke about his various assignments in the joint arena where OCS was key to mission success.

“We live and work in a dynamic world and must flex as needed to respond to global events. Operational contracting is one of those critical capabilities that allows NAVSUP to bring our unique resources to meet ever-evolving mission requirements,” said Stamatopoulos following the class. “Hosting the JOPEC course here locally was a great opportunity for our personnel, and the attendance from the other branches of service allowed for a mutually-beneficial discussion and more collaborative learning experience.”

Stamatopoulos also used the opportunity to point out that over the last 18 months NAVSUP has had 41 personnel attend and graduate from JOPEC which accounts for 20% of the entire Navy’s 201 JOPEC graduates dating back to fiscal year 2013.

According to Carroll, NAVSUP put forth a great deal of effort to get personnel trained in the JOPEC class which is critical to improving its overall OCS capability and capacity to provide support to the fleet during real world operations.