Officership – Self Development and Learning

Learning is a lifelong process. Institutional training and operational assignments alone do not ensure that Naval officers attain and sustain the degree of competency needed to perform their varied missions. Officership requires comprehensive self-study and training. Leaders must commit to a lifetime of professional and personal growth to stay at the cutting edge of their profession. They must keep pace with changing operational requirements, new technologies, common weapons platforms, and evolving doctrines. Every officer is responsible for his or her own self-development.

Self-assessment and taking appropriate remedial or reinforcing action is critical to a leader’s success. Self-development programs include activities that stretch the individual beyond the demands of on-the-job or institutional training. Self-development, consisting of individual study, research, professional reading, practice, and self-assessment, is accomplished via numerous means (that is, studying, observing, and experiencing) and is consistent with an officer’s personal self-development action plan and professional goals. Self-development is the key aspect of individual officer qualification that solidifies the leader development process.