How do I peer respond to Max and ask a question:

Class,

It has been great navigating this course with everyone and learning with you all. From the quality of your posts, I can tell that you all are on track to do some great things, and I wish everyone well on their journeys. These past few courses have opened my eyes to the complexity of being a program manager. I have spoken to a few individuals who think it is easy to leave the military, apply for a program manager job but from my personal interaction with program manager's and learning about what it takes to be one, I can say it takes a strong individual who can lead teams to succeed in this field. One has to know how to work with and manage multiple stakeholders such as contractors, agencies and government branches knowing that not everyone will always be 100% happy. On top of that, we must know how to balance budgets and overcome shortfalls, unexpected circumstances that could complicate a project and build contingency reserves. I know most of us have already seen or experienced it firsthand but the bureaucracy and red tapes in working with the government. It can be frustrating but as a program manager, we learn to adapt and have lots of patience.

With regards to the two questions asked, the first, I believe that the faculty has lived up to this mission statement by ensuring that very qualified instructors teach this course. Our instructor has an incredible amount of real-world experience and knowledge, and it shows. The instructors I have had the pleasure of learning from are truly experts in this field and I feel that AMU does their students a service by selecting true professionals with lots of experience to teach us. Secondly, this course addresses the mission statement by providing first class education to the students and access to crucial material that help us in the field. I have learned so much and I feel that the best part was in the study material. At no point did I feel like there was any fluff or worthless information. The diagrams, the lectures and the discussions had me learning a lot each and every week.

For my four-point s of interest, of course I had to go first with Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leadership & Education, personnel & Facilities) DOTMLPF. As a program manager, this process is so important because it helps identify gaps before acquiring new weapons systems and it includes a holistic approach to acquisition. This process makes you think outside the box and plan for the unexpected. It embodies how program managers should think which is beyond what is set in front of us in order to have the utmost success in a project. Second, a point I was really interested in is the national defense budget issues. This topic was a hot one for me because it seems that it doesn't matter at what point in time we are or have been, this has always been a factor. Naturally, it is safe to say that as a PM, we will most likely face this again. Budget uncertainty will always creep up, so we have roadmaps to lean on for lessons learned so as to not make the same mistakes. We will most likely see sequestration and budget cuts again, but it will hit differently from the seat of a PM.

A third point of interest was in systems theory. This particular topic was a bit harder to digest initially but the correlation of this with process management is very important. Within the DoD, systems theory there is interdependency when a new weapons system is acquired. There is training involved, supply chains, IT networks involved. This requires constant monitoring and adaptation, it is more complex than it appears. As a program manager, you have to ensure that the process matches your specific program needs, and it combines system thinking with process management. Lastly, and the point of interest I enjoyed learning about the most was in the major stages of the defense budget process. It always has intrigued me how our government allocates money. Understanding this process is critical for a PM in my opinion because you will deal with it. This helps plan and forecast. The stages of planning, programming, budgeting, and execution will help keep everything on track. The biggest ways that this affects PMs in the aligning with NDS, justifying costs and planning for CRs. All-in-all, I have learned an incredible amount over the past 8 weeks.

Max