XCTC – Day One

Got up to Camp Roberts today, and did all the check-ins, so I can drive on the base – I think that’s what it’s called.
Good first day – putting various items together for the harness. It’s definitely a process that requires some attention to detail.

XCTC is basically a really high-tech laser tag — not sure I’d call it a game, though. I haven’t worked with soldiers yet, but they’re using this system as their two-week per year training regimen.

People who are the primary on this job travel around the country supporting this important program.

Posted in XCTC Program | Leave a comment

XCTC Program – National Guard

For next couple weeks, I will be part of an XCTC (Exportable Combat Training Capability) exercise at Camp Roberts, CA. Will be working with equipment carried by soldiers and also within vehicles. Good thing is that it’s paid work.

Here’s an unclassified manual on XCTC

Here’s the company behind the program, got the contract

Which company will now have the contract for near future

So far, my focus is on my own survival stuff:
-Boots (from CAP days)
-Long Pants, they provide shirts and hat
-Sunscreen
-Water – they provide
-Lunch carry case with ice-pack holders
-Sandwich
-Apples, Bananas
-Trail Mix

Getting ready now for Day One.

Posted in XCTC Program | Leave a comment

Creating Checklists with an End-to-End (E2E) Flow

Overview
I first became aware of using checklists during flight training (Private Pilot) in New York (1993-1995). I integrated checklists during a major (Loeb & Loeb, LLP law firm) email upgrade, which ensured all IT technicians followed the same procedures. At Polar Air Cargo, during Six Sigma Green Belt training, the additional concepts of “End to End” flows were added to my awareness – “End to End” meaning all the steps needed from taking off the engine from a Boeing 747-400 to replacing and cleared for flight. At T-Mobile, I blended in checklists into everything we did (handset upgrades, returns, service agreement modifications, etc). At David Allen Company, the concept of checklists is a big part of GTD (Getting Things Done) – idea being to get the actual memorization of the process out of your head, and to just focus on the “Next Action”.

What I’ve found is that it’s more fun to engage in a recurring project, to free my mind up to just focus on the current “Next Action”, knowing that it will work out, and not having to stress about remembering all the steps. Because I’m following the same steps each time, if there is a systemic change somewhere, then it’s easier to identify where the checklist needs to be modified/updated.

For example, there have been numerous occasions where a recurring project includes multiple sources (different vendors), and one vendor opts to do something differently, which causes the outcomes to be different than expected, and then a resolution is needed, and then the checklist needs to be modified/updated. Also, if you need to re-engage end-users (or clients) about the modification/change, if you have been consistent with following the same checklists across the board then it’s easier to keep track of the follow-ups and the engagement with clients.

Areas where I will be creating checklists
Note: Because this website is Project/Action Support for my other sites, it’s likely I’ll create checklists (E2E flow) within this site, that support another site’s primary area of focus – Hypnotherapy, Aviation, Social Work. Probably makes sense to locate checklists within pages, and then add to menus.

-Creating YouTube videos for introducing myself and marketing hypnotherapy as an intervention
-Creating E2E flows for client engagement (Note: This will be high-level generic)
-Creating E2E flows for hypnotherapy sessions (Note: This will be high-level generic) and topic-focused
-Creating E2E flows for everything related to General Aviation (getting current; additional ratings, etc)

Posted in Checklists | Leave a comment