SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii --The annual U.S. Army Pacific G-8 Synchronization was held, April 15-16, at the Nehelani Conference Center on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The theme for this year's synch meeting was "Serving the Nation…Accomplishing the Mission." The event brought together representatives from across USARPAC's major subordinate commands to discuss a variety of topics affecting the G-8 community.
Guest speakers for the event were Chip Fulghum, Deputy Under Secretary for Management, Department of Homeland Security; Lt. Gen. Thomas Horlander, the ASA Military Deputy; Chief Susan Ballard, Chief of the Honolulu Police Department; and Dave Weinberg, from Dave Speak.
Fulghum started off the discussion for the synch with the topic of Leadership, the importance of Leaders, and discussed traits considered valuable to be a good leader; technical competency, leadership philosophy, and values.
Col. Landon Moxley, Deputy G-8 with USARPAC, discussed the importance of leadership and why it was one of the topics at the synch.
"Leadership and communication are the two most important factors for the success of the G8 and financial management community, even the most technically capable G8 will not succeed without leadership and good communication," said Moxley. "The emphasis on these two areas was to reinforce the focus and enable the team to be more effective in these two critical areas."
After discussing leadership, attendees continued to delve into topics such as ethics and service, the future of the finance career field, communication, command accountability and execution, readiness, and ended the day on the topic of advanced analytics.
Charles Djou, Attorney Advisor, Chief of Administrative Law, 9th Mission Support Command for USARPAC, led the second day of discussions. Djou, a former member of Congress, spoke to the attendees on the importance and meaning of service.
Following Djou, attendees were provided briefs on USARPAC Operation Updates, the OPTEMPO Training Resource Model, upcoming changes to support agreements and professional development briefs.
"The G8 Synch helped us to address issues by hearing from and communicating with the senior leaders, such as Lt. Gen. Horlander, as he updated the force with current information and shared his insights from his perspective as the Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller (ASAFM&C)," said Moxley.
Moxley said the two-day synch also provided time for the attendees to discuss potential funding challenges the G-8 faces for the remainder of the fiscal year.