Colorado National Guard program builds future leaders, develops connection when it matters most
The program was developed in part by former Adjutant General of Colorado U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. (Retired) Andy Love to prepare senior military leaders to lead a response to state emergencies across multiple roles within the organization while also building a contact list of resources.
“The concept for this course is coming directly out of domestic response,” said U.S. Army Col. Matthew Mercado, Deputy Chief of Staff G3 (Operations). “When a Colorado Army or Air National Guard officer is responding to a response, they are meeting the county sheriff or their National Guard counterpart for the first time and visa-versa. But why are we exchanging business cards at the incident, not before?”
This idea demanded a program to develop senior CONG officers and NCOs, so that on day one of a response, when they are integrating into a joint environment or coordinating troops movements, they will be prepared with knowledge and understanding of each other’s roles within the organization and externally.
“What we do is put together this annual cohort of the next generation of leaders,” Mercado said. “There's a nomination process of mostly lieutenant colonels that might be chief of staff one day, for example. The adjutant general looks at all the nominees and selects the folks they want in the cohort.”
Once selected, the leaders are put into a yearlong program comprised of four sessions. The course includes a meet and greet session where these leaders get to know each other, receive presentations by former CONG general officers who served in similar roles and civilian mentors with extensive experience in emergency response and business fields. It’s also a way to start developing relationships within the military community at the senior level.
“In the session that focuses on business, we bring in community and business leaders like the CEO of a hospital system,” Mercado said. “The cohort will spend the day together with them to talk concerns and what’s it is like from the business side during a domestic response and how that response can impact the business community.”
Mercado explained how military trained minds may not immediately think about these impacts because military training focuses so heavily on mission completion. At the command level, CONG leaders need to focus on public safety, but it also goes beyond that.
“[For example] as a Guardsman, you may think, we need to shut everything down, and we need to cordon six blocks out, and we need to let everybody know to avoid the area,” Mercado said. “But considering business leaders, this may not be the best course.”
Mercado used the example that in the event some businesses were forced to close for a short time they could go out of business due to small profit margins.
During another session, the cohort focuses on speaking with government officials such as members of the congressional delegations, state legislators, and county commissioners. Exposure to these individuals on a personal and professional level builds knowledge and trust, an opportunity not every CONG leader will have beyond CORE.
“Meeting these people now like county sheriffs or the director of emergency management for the state is key,” Mercado said. “When these leaders get to the disaster, it’s going to seem like now they’re all old friends.”
The curriculum also includes a media session which challenges the leader through mock interviews by bringing in five or six actual members of the media which prepares the leader to tell the Guard story.
Outside of working directly for joint operations, exposure to each other’s roles, responsibilities and capabilities are not routine. In building relationships and mission understanding across services, the cohort has an opportunity to visit Buckley Space Force base to watch F-16s take off, then load into a helicopter for a fight to the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site in Gypsum, Colorado.
“At each stop they will have an outward facing discussion,” Mercado said. “The concept being that those are the folks that we'll see in later sessions and start to build that process right and start to exchange their business cards.”
Mercado said a big focus of the course is spent on culture and understanding of what each other is doing in their Air or Army National Guard roles. How someone in the cohort may later be selected as the J3 (Chief Operations Officer), and understanding the roles and capabilities of their counterparts’ units is vital to successful mission planning.
“One of the things that I do in operations is to execute $50 million in the state of Colorado,” Mercado said. “Even though that's Army training money, that's $50 million going into the economy.”
He explained that having connections with high-quality organizations within the community can better direct how those funds are appropriated and spent. In the event of an emergency, those same people will be there to help.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, CORE nearly became a memory.
“CORE had a little break during COVID, because it was just hard to get everyone together,” Mercado said. “We put people through this program and don't really ask for anything back because we know they are going to do great things, but this is this amazing program, so we had to get it up and running again.”
With the help of CORE alumna, U.S Air Force Col. Jamie Pieper, the program leaned on its most dedicated students, like Mercado, to get back on track.
“One of the asks was what do we want from our alumni,” he said. “Who do we have in the Army and Air who are willing to be part of the cohort and help facilitate, help us build what we want?”
“CORE is a really cool resource, and we want our alumni to be great ambassadors,” Mercado said. “During a couple of sessions where it was open to alumni, I was lucky to have U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jesse Morehouse, who had been a CORE alumnus years earlier, spend the day with us.”
Other recent guests to attend include former Adjutant General of Colorado and Director of the Air National Guard Lt. Gen. (Retired) Michael Loh, former Adjutant General of Colorado and Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (Retired) Laura Clellan and current Adjutant General of Colorado, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Davis.
Mercado said Davis spent the entire day with the cohort, which is asking a lot for a sitting TAG, but that shows the importance of the curriculum.
“This program is amazingly unique, and it’s an extremely important opportunity for these senior leaders to make these connections in order to build personal and organizational readiness,” Davis said. “The time that we spend together is invaluable. They are the next generation of this organization, and I want them to be prepared to one day serve our community in the same roles that so many great CONG leaders have had the privilege to hold.”
As an alumnus of the course, Mercado says CORE makes leaders more confident and prepared.
“I think it's about professional development. It’s about exposure.” he said. “I think if we care about our leaders and we care about developing leaders, then we need to do this. The best way to be able to know others is to know yourself first.”
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