Voices from the Field: A Discussion with Russell Grant and Josh Welle

In the summer of 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urged the lead nations in Regional Command South, Kandahar, Afghanistan of the need for coordinated civilian-military strategy development and planning.   In December of that same year, the CIVMIL Cell was created with a mandate to build a regional comprehensive integrated strategy to inform military planning and fulfill Secretary Gates' vision. 

There were only two military officers in this progressive staff branch, both MBAs.  1LT Russell Grant, a reserve officer, was activated and put his career at IBM Strategy & Change on hold and LT Joshua Welle, a ship driver, recently finished teaching Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy. They participated in planning at all levels - from executive meetings in Kabul to grass-root shuras - and shared their experiences with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).  

1LT Russell L. Grant (USAR) and LT Joshua W. Welle (USN) served in the Civil-Military Planning Cell at the Regional Command-South Headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Russell Grant is a Senior Consultant for IBM Strategy & Change and a graduate of Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon.  Joshua Welle is a Navy surface warfare officer and holds an M.A./MBA from the University of Maryland.

SPEAKERS

1LT Russell L. Grant (USAR)
Senior Consultant, IBM Strategy & Change

LT Joshua W. Welle (USN)
Surface Warfare Officer, U.S. Navy