Cover Letter

27 May 2015

Georgia MoDA Position

Core Team Deputy:  Senior Advisor

Defense Security Cooperation Agency

Tbilisi, Georgia

To whom it may concern:

As my résumé indicates, I have roughly twelve years of professional experience in working as a senior advisor in a partner nation Ministry of Defense (MoD) and/or a Joint Staff in a multinational environment.  As the Officer in Charge of the U.S. Marine Corps’ only International Training Section, I have extensive program management experience with diverse and complex programs in military and civilian organizations as well as familiarity with Defense Institution Building (DIB) Programs and security cooperation programs and processes. 

A proven self-starter, I have repeatedly been successful working independently at various organizational levels and with executives, managers, leaders, and staffs from multiple functional areas.  For example, I conceptualized, initiated, developed, and implemented the Mongolian Enlisted Leadership Development Program.  As far as I know, no program like this ever existed or was attempted before.  The first not-insignificant hurdle was to convince the A/CS G5 (Colonel) to allow me to brief the concept to the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC).  After the General approved the program (which was funded by the MARFORPAC O&M), I then had to brief and seek approval from the U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia.  Finally, I was given authorization to brief the concept to senior Mongolian civilian and military leaders in order to explain the initiative and request permission to initiate a pilot program that would eventually include officer development and a conversion from the Soviet staff system to the Napoleonic staff system.  This program was conceived to strengthen our bilateral relationship with Mongolia as well as to increase the Mongolian Armed Forces’ ability to support and conduct missions in support of the United Nations and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Similarly, and later as MARFORPAC’S G5 South Asia Desk Officer, I turned a small platoon-level exercise into what was designed to eventually become a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), infantry battalion reinforced, engagement.  When I took over the South Asia Desk, the platoon-level exercise did not even have a name.  It was a relatively obscure mil-to-mil exercise that was conducted one year in India and the following year in the United States.  Because of the distance between our two countries, no Desk Officer had attempted to grow this exercise into something more appropriate between near-peer, if not peer, nations.  My belief was that this exercise was totally inadequate and was basically serving next to no purpose as a platoon-to-platoon exchange. I wanted to grow it into an exercise that was strategic in its outlook and impact. 

At that time, however, the war in Iraq was raging, and the Marine Corps’ involvement in Afghanistan was also significant.  Once again, I had to convince the G5, Chief of Staff, Commanding General (CG) MARFORPAC, U.S. Ambassador to India, and the senior-level Indian civilian and military leaders that our two nations should be conducting a strategic-level exercise.  Although this exercise was eventually conducted, the hardest part may have been convincing the MEU Commander (Colonel) to reschedule the MEU’s sustainment training en route to his unit’s seven-month deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He pushed back hard, not wanting to give up the usual sustainment training evolution in Australia, but I had already convinced his Comanding General (who was also my CG) that this exercise was strategically important, and Exercise (Ex) SHATRUJEET was born.  

The Indians, however, were not willing to grow this engagement from a platoon-level to a battalion-reinforced-level exercise without slowly building up to it.  My belief was that they were unsure of their ability to support such a major engagement and that they wanted to begin with something more manageable.  So we initiated this at the company-reinforced level.  This created a problem for me as the exercise planner because all of the Marines needed to get off the Navy ships and conduct sustainment training prior to disembarking in Iraq.  So I traveled to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives in order to explore the possibility of the MEU’s conducting sustainment training in all of these countries.  After once again gaining approval to conduct distributed-operations sustainment training, that first year the Ex SHATRUJEET was conducted in India while other elements of the MEU conducted sustainment training in the Maldives and Sri Lanka.  Senior leaders in Bangladesh were extremely interested in supporting these distributed operations also, but the first year the timing of the event fell during Ramadan, and due to religious and political considerations, the government of Bangladesh was unable to support the event. However, senior leaders of Bangladesh indicated to me that they would be interested in a substantial mil-to-mil engagement in subsequent years as long as the timing did not fall during Ramadan.

Finally, I was the Assistant Officer in Charge (A/OIC) for one year and the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Marine Corps’ only International Training Section for two years.  This was followed on the heels of a three-year assignment to the U.S. Military Advisory and Assistance Group in Lima, Peru, where I served as the Joint Planning and Assistance Team’s (JPAT) riverine counterdrug officer.  This was the first time a Marine served in this Navy SEAL coded billet.  During this time I was the lead U.S. military advisor for the development of Peru’s nascent riverine program, which was created to support and work in close coordination with the ongoing air bridge denial program.  This work was conducted primarily in Peru’s Amazon basin, and at the end of my tour of duty was credited by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) with cumulative seizures of more than 6 metric tons of coca base/paste.  During these years I worked closely with the Peruvian DINANDRO (DEA equivalent) and with Peru’s navy, marines, customs agency, and ministry of defense, as well as senior civilian leaders.

It is my sincere hope that I will be selected for an interview to discuss any questions you may have and a future for me as theGeorgia MoDA Position Core Team Deputy:  Senior Advisor.  Of course, feel free to call (DSN:  314-123-4567) or e-mail (ST.civ@mail.mil) me to schedule an interview.

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

Very truly yours,

Simon X. McTemplar (LtCol/USMC ret.)