Responding to a Cross-Functional Workforce Gap

During a later squadron assignment, Nathan supported operational units experiencing shortages of personnel prepared to handle both communications and information-technology responsibilities. Some personnel brought substantial experience in one discipline but limited preparation in the other, while disruptions to normal training made rapid development more difficult. Nathan treated the situation as a system-level capability gap rather than an individual failure. He focused on giving personnel practical assistance, hands-on training, and access to experienced practitioners. That approach became part of the foundation for the Cyber On-Board Remediation Assistance (COBRA) team and reinforced a central leadership principle: when people have not been prepared for the work assigned to them, leaders should improve the system before blaming the individual.

From 2021 through 2024 at COMSUBRON 19, operational units were managing shortages of personnel prepared to perform both communications and information-technology responsibilities, while disruptions to normal training made rapid development more difficult.

Some personnel arrived with substantial experience in one discipline but limited preparation in the other. Treating the resulting performance gaps as individual failures would not correct the underlying mismatch between assigned responsibilities, available training, and access to experienced support.

Nathan treated the shortage as a system-level capability problem. He focused on practical assistance, hands-on training, and access to experienced practitioners while developing a model that could move scarce expertise to the units that needed it.

Accountability requires leaders to distinguish unwillingness from inadequate preparation. When people have not been equipped for the work assigned to them, the responsible response is to improve training, support, and the surrounding system before blaming the individual.