No one does acronyms like the military. It’s a language unto itself. Learn from the masters with these syllable-savers. DARPA: Darth Vader’s lair? A laser-guided conveyance system? Magic carpet drones? No. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. VETS: Veterans Employment and Training Service. Think of it as the everything agency that’s working to align services of a wide swath of agencies ranging from the DOT and DOD to the SBA and VA. ASVET: Not a put-down. Not Astro Supply Chain Vehicular Extraterrestrial Transport. It’s the Associate Secretary Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, currently The Hon. James D. Rodriguez. MOS: Military Occupation Specialty is a classification system used by most military branches to describe occupational fields in the services. They include everything from 35-Motor Transport to 58-Military Police and Corrections. The Air Force has its own system, the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) and the Navy has its own version called “ratings.” C-SCRM: Cybersecurity-Supply Chain Risk Management. Probably not pronounced see-scream, definitely the cover-agency Jack Ryan will work for in the show’s next season. DISA: Defense Industry Security Agency. Don’t dis these guys if you know what’s good for you. FOCI: This is not a game played by old men in Brooklyn. It stands for “Mitigate Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence.” (A military mantra and recurring theme in the IIJA.) IIJA: No one in the military says “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” but everyone’s talking about IIJA. LogX: The acronym every military-hipster loves to say stands for Joint Logistics Enterprise. Part of the DoD, LogX spans both supply chain and logistics operations and provides the means to muster, transport, and sustain military power anywhere in the world at a high level of readiness. SOTA: State-of-the-Art. For best results when pitching an idea to the brass, use SOTA, not “cool” or “awesome.” SOTP: State-of-the-Practice. Substitute “Well, this is just the way we’ve always done it here” (12 syllables) with SOTP (4 letters) to get your point across with military precision. HASC: House Armed Services Committee. A standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. HOW TO SPEAK WITH MILITARY EFFICIENCY
opportunity to gain knowledge and move into this career path,” he says. Competencies and character traits compensate for skill gaps at companies like transportation and logistics provider J.B. Hunt. “The relative experience of military veterans transitions and translates into the skill sets we need,” says Eric Airola, former Marine and leader of J.B. Hunt’s Military & Veteran Relations programs. “With the proper training plan, we can make it work.” Agile thought and resilient problem- solving are two prized traits of vets. “In the military, people change jobs,” says Vasquez. “Throughout their career, their level and scope of responsibility naturally broaden. For instance, it could be that they’re in charge of all vehicles. Then it expands to vehicles and personnel. Then they’re in charge of the aircraft, personnel, and multiple processes.” Innovation, reinvention and disruption are hardwired into service members who are trained, promoted, and moved around frequently. The restlessness leads to fresh thinking. “In the Army, we moved every two to three years or were deployed every two to three years,” says Dickman. “So two years into a role, my bones told me it’s time to move.” The cycle serves as a sort of psychic alarm clock that reminds him to ask, “how are you upskilling?” and “how are you growing your team?” he says. LEVERAGING THE VALUE OF VETS Coveting vets is nothing new for trucking companies in the know. Company founder Johnnie Bryan Hunt was a veteran, and 13% of J.B. Hunt employees are veterans. The company has an ongoing goal to hire 1,600 former service members every year. The majority of the recruits J.B. Hunt and Averitt bring in are truckers. Averitt has onboarded more than 350 former military drivers in the past 16 months. Both Averitt and J.B. Hunt recruit on bases, at job fairs, and through placement organizations like Hire Heroes.
148 Inbound Logistics • July 2022
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