CONFERENCE BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

Saturday, 29 April 2006

I.  Women Leaders for our Army and Nation

Session I-1.  Leading in the Private Sector: From Battalions to Boardrooms  

Today more than ever, the governance of private, public, and nonprofit corporations is under greater public scrutiny.  Academy Graduates possess essential leadership skills that can positively impact private sector for- or not-for-profit companies.  Gain insight into the types of leadership required and how they might differ from the military model. This panel will consist of graduates with executive experience leading organizations in the non-profit and private sectors.  Learn about some of the compelling research regarding women and leadership in the private sector and unique challenges non-profit executives encounter.

Moderator:  Andrea Hollen '80, Systems Architect, Integration Services, Public Services, Bearing Point Consulting - New York

Speakers/Panelists:  

Donna McAleer '87,  Former Executive Director of People's Health Clinic, Business Consultant, Writer and Ski Instructor  - Utah

Margaret Wilson '88, Operations Manager, Lean Technology Solutions -- Arizona

Becky Kanis '89,  Director of Innovation, Common Ground - New York

Jen Olivia '96,  Attorney--Washington, D.C.

Session I-2.  Leading in Government and Politics: Start Here to Become President

All Academy Graduates eventually transition from military careers to jobs in the civilian sector.   The possibilities for future employment or volunteerism are endless. Many graduates, however, still want to serve Uncle Sam and are interested in myriad Federal jobs available in the Career Civil Service and Politics. There are numerous positions intended to bridge the gap between the Federal Government, and State and Local Governments, and experienced managers are needed.  This panel will discuss opportunities to serve our Nation in Government or Politics and the rewards that accrue from continuing to give your best to your country after your military career—or perhaps after you transition to Reserve Status.  Panelists will share experiences of how they have made these transitions.

Moderator:  Meg Kulungowski '81,  Senior Legislative Coordinator, Army Budget Liaison Office --Washington, D.C.

Speakers/Panelists: 

Mary Whitley '80,  Senior Executive Staff (ret). Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Enterprise Systems, Maximus, Inc.--Washington , D.C.

Terry Gerton '83, Director, Programming and Fiscal Economics Division, Program Analysis & Evaluation, Office of the Secretary of Defense --Washington, D.C.

Elisa Westfield '91,  Attorney, Debevoise & Plimpton, LL, New Jersey

Session I-3.  Leading in Uniform: Command of a Brigade and Battalion

This panel will provide an opportunity to hear about the daily experiences of USMA graduates who are wearing ‘green tabs’ now.  Come hear these talented women share and compare their professional experiences and perspectives.  Each commander will discuss the top three lessons they have learned in their career so far, and the key “take-aways” from those lessons.  This unprecedented panel will consist of women graduates who are contributing to West Point’s legacy of leadership:  from the first woman graduate to be promoted to Brigadier General to the first woman to be an Air Defense Artillery Battalion Commander.  This session will provide a snapshot of command from their perspective at the Division, District, Brigade, and Battalion levels.

Moderator:  Dr. Susan Kellett-Forsyth, PhD ‘80, Dissertation on Leadership Styles of Women in the Army

Speakers/Panelists:

COL Debra Lewis ’80, EN,  Commander, Seattle District, United States Army Corps of Engineers

COL Heidi Brown '81, AD, 32nd ADA BDE Commander in Iraq, Fort Bliss, TX

BG Becky Halstead '81. OD, Commander, 3rd Support Command

COL Kristin Knapp French '86, QM, Former Commander, Regimental Support Squadron, 3rd ACR. Current Student, United States Army War College, Carlisle, PA.

 
Session I-4:  In Command of a Company and Platoon:  Leading in Uniform

Many officers tell us that the hardest and best job they ever had was as a Company Commander.  It’s 24-7, intense, exhausting, and exhilarating by many accounts.  The professional bonds formed between the Company Commander, the Platoon Leaders, and the Non-Commissioned Officers are essential.  Add to this, well planned training, good order and discipline, and an encouraging leadership climate, and one has the environment for success.  Training provided by USMA and the Officer Basic Courses is essential, but there’s no substitute for experience.  Members of this panel will discuss their firsthand experiences commanding companies and leading platoons in today’s challenging military environment

Moderator:  

CPT Casey Moes '99, MP, Plans Officer, 16th MP BDE, XVIII Airborne Corps, Ft. Bragg, NC

Speakers/Panelists:

MAJ Kate Guttorsmen ’96, EN, Operations Officer, 3-74th Training Support Battalion, Fort Riley, Kansas.  Chief of Detainee Operations in Afghanistan

CPT Jeanne Hull '00, MI, Company Commander in Iraq, US Army Student Detachment studying at Princeton Unversity for a Masters in Public Affairs.

CPT (ret) Dawn Halfaker ’01, MP, Technical Consultant, DARPA.  Former platoon leader in Iraq, awarded Purple Heart

 II.  Our Army

Session II-1.  Military Recruiting and Training:  Ensuring the Legacy

Every USMA graduate remembers the day they decided to join the Long Gray Line.  We are a nation at war and the military is attempting to recruite well over 200,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines between the four Services.  The military is facing the biggest challenge in recruiting since the inception of the All-Volunteer force. This session will discuss various wasy women are recruited into the Army and how graduates can assist to continue the legacy of attracting high quality women to our Academies.

Moderator:  Marene Allison '80,  Former member of DACOWITS

Speakers/Panelists:

LTC (ret) Donna Alesch White ’80, Former Assistant Director of Admissions, USMA.  Committee Member, Representative Heather Wilson (NM) Service Academy Nominating Committee  

COL Lori Sussman '83,  Assessions Command.  Former Signal Training Brigade commander

LTC Debra McDonald ‘85,   Assistant Director of Admissions, USMA

LTC Donna Dorminey '89, Market Research Analyst -- USAAC Center for Accessions Research (CAR)

Dr. David Segal, PhD, Professor, University of Maryland

 
Session II-2.  Military Career Choices and Timing: Making Informed Decisions

Positioning yourself for success is important. Early on, Junior Military Officers are faced with a brief period during which they must meet all of the requirements to become “successful” military officers. It is critical that young officers make the right decisions when planning their military careers. Military personnel officers will present both the “official” timeline of requirements for today’s Army officers, and discuss where the decision points exist for choice within that timeline. The session will also discuss mentorship and how mentors can offer support and guidance to young officers so that they are well informed when making career decisions.

Moderator: COL Donna Brazil '83,  TC, Academy Professor,  Dept of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, USMA

Speakers/Panelists:

LTC(P) Patti O’Keefe ‘82, AG, Chief, Officer Accessions Policy Branch

COL Anne Davis '82, OD, Commander, Tooele Army Depot, Tooele, Utah

 
Session II-3.  Current Culture at USMA and the Army         

Learn about attitudes and behaviors that are characteristic of the cultures at USMA and in the Army.  The panel will consist of a former training battalion commander, USMA staff/faculty and current cadets.  They will share anecdotal information, a cultural anthropological study, and empirical data to discuss changes in attitudes over time while sharing experiences.  Cadet authors will also read selections from a USMA Anthology project that has been in compilation since 2005. 

Moderator:  LTC Lauren Barone

Speakers/Panelists: 

COL Lori Sussman '83,  SC, Assessions Command.  Former 15th Regimental Signal Brigade Commander

Cadet Erin Morgan '06

Session II-4.  Current Military Assignment Policies and Practices: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Career

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was disbanded in 1978 and all “WACs” became members of the Regular Army. Assignment policies and practices have come and gone several times since then. The number of women in the active Army has risen from 10.5% in 1985 to 15.9% in 2001. Currently the Army operates under Army Regulation 600-13 Army Policy for the Assignment of Female Soldiers and women comprise 16% of the Total Army.  In this session, military personnel officers will review the current policies and the actual practices of the assignment of women in the Army.  In addition, they will address demographics and current data where women are serving in the Army today.

Moderator:  BG (ret) Pat Foote, Former Commanding General, Fort Belvoir, VA; Current President of the Alliance for National  Defense

Speakers/Panelists:

COL Casey Wardinski ’80, Office of Economics and Manpower Analysis, USMA

COL (ret) Barbara Lee, Former USMA Faculty Member, Alliance for National Defense

LTC Lynn Jackson, Chief of Women in the Army Policy Branch, Office of the G-1, Washington, DC

III.  Career and Networking

Session III-1.   Effective Networking:  Fuel for Your Professional Life  

Learn from the experts how you can be more effective at networking. Find out how to effectively make contacts, keep them current, and call upon those who can help you with issues concerning your career, industry, or personal relationships. Networking is critical in the private sector and, as you can imagine, it can be extremely helpful within government or military service. The session will include guidance from those whose business depends on effective networking and success stories from women who have used networking to attain their goals.

Moderator:  Kelli McKechnie '96, McKinsey & Company

Speakers/Panelists: 

Danna Maller Rocuque '80, Director of Marketing, Tamro Capital Partners

Marianne Malizia, '81, Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

Holly Flores '96, Financial Advisor, USB

Susan Kratch, Junior Military Officer Leadership Program Manager, General Electric

Session III-2.  Work/Family Balance and Lifestyle:  Maintaining a Balance

Imagine both achievement and enjoyment existing harmoniously in your life. Some individuals have personally managed to work around, with and through different challenges to achieve work-life balance. Many, however, didn’t always have this balance, nor recognize the need for such balance. You may be a parent, but you don't need to be one to struggle with trying to “do it all.” This session will bring together persons from various personal situations to address how to move toward a more balanced life.  Decisions concerning careers, job changes, and family issues are often competing priorities. This diverse group of panelists will share how they’ve made important decisions in their lives, the criteria they used, successes, and lessons learned.

Moderator: LTC (ret) Deirdre Dixon ‘84, Professor of Military Science, University of Tampa

Speakers/Panelists: 

COL Michele Matthews Putko '83, Student United States Army War College

COL Christine Gayagas '84, Chief of Staff, 13th Corps Support Command

Leslie Stein '97

Jeanine Andreassi, PhD, Professor Zicklin School of Business, City Univeristy of New York Graduate Center.  Disseration, "Personality & Work-Family Conflict:  New Directions."

Session III-3.  Career Transitions:  Getting Back in the Game

In recent years, significant media attention has focused on the exodus of highly educated women from the workforce.  A recent research study, Back in the Game:  Returning to Business After a Hiatus, delved into the challenges women face in re-entering the workforce and identified proactive measures that women can take to facilitate the transition back to work.  In this session, two of the three study authors will discuss their findings and recommendations.  If you have temporarily stepped out of the workforce (whether military or civilian) or are contemplating such a move, this session will help you formulate an approach for paving your return to the working world.

Moderator:  Betsy Jackson '89

Speakers/Panelists:

Marla Driscoll, Independant Consultant

Mary Gross, Director of Learning & Development, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers

Angela Messer '85, Director, Booz Allen Hamilton

 
Session III-4.  Mentoring:  Guidance, Encouragement,  and Counsel

Serving as a mentor can have a lasting influence and important impact of the decisions a young officer will make in the course of her or his career.  Learn from experts about the organizational and personal benefits of mentorship programs.  West Point Women was formed to facilitate the creation of strong networks and mentors at every level from cadet to "old grad."  This panel will discuss ideas for establishing a mentoring relationships, as well as present the formal mentoring program developed by West Point Women.

Moderator:  Bridget Altenburg '95,  Senior Director/Chief of Staff, Bally Total Fitness

Speakers/Panelists: 

MAJ Stephanie Ahern '95, EN, Professor, Dept of Social Sciences, USMA

MAJ Devon Blake '95, MI, Professor, Dept of Military Instruction, USMA

MAJ Kris Colwell '95, MI, Professor,  Dept of Social Sciences, USMA

Janet Hanson, Founder, 85 Broads and Managing Director, Lehman Brothers

Michele Nadeau-Schaff, Director, Student Success Course, Center for Enhanced Performance, USMA

 
IV.  Wellness

Session IV-1.  Physical Health:  Taking Care of Yourself

All of us remember the days of two-mile runs in combat boots, obstacle courses and mandatory gymnastics class. As teenagers and young “twenty-somethings,” we were up to the challenge, but some of these activities could be classified as unnatural acts and left their marks on our bodies. Add airborne school, rappelling, ruck marches, and war zones and you could have a recipe for future health problems. Military health professionals have been diagnosing and treating us for everything from stress fractures to coronary heart disease for decades. This panel exposes illnesses and injuries common among military and ex-military women and discusses ways to mitigate long-term health problems. The panel will also present strategies and recommendations to maintain your optimal health profile, now, and as you gracefully age.

Moderator: COL Terry Tepper Walters, MD ’80, Specialist Geriatric Medicine

Speakers/Panelists: 

COL (ret) Pat St. Pierre, MD ’80, Orthopedic Surgeon

Session IV-2.  Behavorial  Health:  Understanding and Strategies

Inherent in Academy life, all cadets experience the rigors of fitness and training requirements, discipline, academic pressure and the 4^th Class system. Women have historically known an additional dimension. In this session, professional counselors and behavioral health practitioners will discuss short and long term health effects observed by the Academy. Experts will also discuss strategies to promote wellness.

 
Moderator/Speaker:  LTC Becky Porter, PhD, Clinical Director, Center for Enchanced Peformance, USMA

Speaker/Panelist: 

BG (ret) Howard Prince '62,  Former  Department Head,  Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, USMA.  Director, Center for Ethical Leadership,  Lyndon  B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin, Texas

 
Session IV-3.  Stress...What Stress?

Learn about stress management strategies to reduce and cope with stress. It’s a little known fact that the U.S Army War College identifies those persons with “Triple A” personalities in every class and works with them during their stay at Carlisle Barracks. Learn about the criteria for “triple A” personality and whether your share any of the same traits. This expert panel will share its observations of the stress experienced by active duty and ex-military women. The panel will also report on the latest methods for managing stress daily and over the long term.

Moderator/Speaker:  COL Susan Myers, USAWC Leadership Division

Speaker/Panelist:

Dr. Carol Ann Malizia, Wellness Expert

Session IV-4.  Fitness and Wellness:  Now and For Life

While at the Academy, the Department of Physical Education insured continued fitness through classes and wonderful tests. In addition, DPE also had many offerings intended for cadets to simply learn new “life-long” or “carry-over” sports. During this session, experts in adult fitness will address effective exercise programs for busy lifestyles and strategies for continuing fitness during various stages of our lives. 

Moderator/Speaker: BG (ret) Maureen LeBouef, former Master or the Sword, Department of Physical Education,  USMA

Speaker/Panelist:

Dr. Sue Tendy, Professor, Department of Physical Education,  USMA