FORT MEADE, Md. — A Navy Reservist’s innovative concept for adapting a mobile application to better enable mobilization is a winning idea.
Lt. Cdr. Jonathan Calhoun, a Selected Reserve member attached to U.S. Fleet Forces Command Maritime Operations Center (N3 FCC) in Norfolk, Virginia, submitted his entry, “Leveraging Mobile Technology to Streamline Mobilization,” as part of the “i3 Waypoints” effort to find new or better ways for the Navy Reserve to operate.
Vice Adm. John B. Mustin, chief of Navy Reserve and commander, Navy Reserve Force, announced the winning entry of the inaugural i3 Waypoints in a streaming broadcast on July 14.
Calhoun’s entry was one of 107 received and evaluated by a panel of judges.
Calhoun initially thought of his idea during a mobilization exercise where he realized shifting many of the mobilization requirements to a secure mobile platform would make the process faster and more efficient for both Sailors and Navy Reserve Center staff.
“Empowering Sailors to use their mobile device to complete a significant portion of pre-mobilization requirements will improve the overall experience for the modern-day Sailor and save critical time during mass mobilizations to get warfighting-ready Sailors on station faster,” said Calhoun.
Calhoun’s entry envisions a mobile application to reduce duplicative administrative requirements for both members and mobilization staff, save critical time by auto-populating data fields across multiple documents, provide real-time transparency and progress status for members and leadership throughout the process, and enable clear and customizable views and reports.
Additionally, the app could remove the difficulties some Reserve members have accessing Common Access Card-enabled sites outside an Navy/Marine Corps Internet environment and would “ensure our ability to mass mobilize, predictably, at scale, and with seamless administration activation workflows” as outlined in the Navy Reserve Fighting Instructions 2022.
“We are already moving out on the design for Lt. Cdr. Calhoun’s mobile application,” said Mustin. “His idea to add mobile technology to our distributed activation process helps us achieve our goal of mobilizing the entire Selected Reserve force of 50,000 in 30 days, if required.”
Mustin conceived of the i3 Waypoints program as an approach to “innovate something entirely new; improve on something already established; or integrate several ideas, products or processes rendering the former completely obsolete.”
The annual competition is designed to fast-track transformative ideas from across the Navy directly to the highest levels of the Navy Reserve, without filters or bureaucratic barriers.
The competition is open to anyone in the U.S. Navy–Selected Reserve, Training and Administration of the Reserve, Individual Ready Reserve, Active Duty and civilians, in all ranks, rates and grades.
Of the 107 entries received, five entries were subsequently chosen and presented to a panel hosted by Mustin, retired Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis, Bruce E. Mosler, chairman, global brokerage of Cushman & Wakefield Inc., Navy Reserve Force Master Chief Tracy L. Hunt and 2021 Reserve Sailor of the Year Chief Yeoman (Select) Jasmyn Phinizy.
“The large number of creative, thoughtful strategic ideas submitted in a relatively short timeframe far exceeded our original expectations,” said Mustin. “It demonstrates our Reserve Force’s commitment to innovate, improve efficiencies, and reduce administrative burdens, allowing us to focus on warfighting readiness — our one and only priority. With such an enthusiastic response from the force, and so many great ideas to modernize the way we do business, we saw enough in this inaugural event to commit to making i3 Waypoints an annual program. Very little is more important to us than keeping the direct pipeline open for creative ideas to flow to top leadership without filter or disruption.”
The other i3 Waypoints finalists, and their winning ideas, are:
- Lt. Brian Adornato, Naval Sea Systems Command, Surge Maintenance Sacramento: “Create a New Category of Personnel: Civilian Technicians”
- Cdr. Bobby Hsu, Director of Navy Staff, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations: “Official Navy Reserve YouTube Channel”
- Cdr. Sarah McGann, Navy Personnel Command (PERS-9), and Lt. Josh Didawick, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education: “New Policy for Reserve Retirement Education Across the Career Continuum”
- Cdr. Scott Mericle, Navy Reserve Operations, Plans and Policy (N5), Commander, Second Fleet: “Improve Active to Reserve Transition.”
The streamlined broadcast can be viewed here:
https://www.navyreserve.navy.mil/Resources/I3-Waypoints/
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/850290/i3-waypoint-challenge
https://www.youtube.com/c/usnavyreserve
- A Day to Remember - September 11, 2023
- Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Exchange will examine emerging capabilities and capacity - July 12, 2023
- Cold Waters Spark Warm Relationship - April 20, 2023
