U.S. Africa Command's resources director, Heidi Grant, has been named to be the next under secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs at the Pentagon.
Interviewed about her career, personal life, and future opportunities, Grant reflected on her past two years at U.S. AFRICOM and the changes she has seen since the command's inception in 2008.
Grant completes her tour in Stuttgart August 28, 2010, spent building and managing the directorate responsible for operations of the comptroller, human resources, capabilities and analysis, reserve affairs, science and technology and quality of life. This includes coordinating the U.S. Africa Command budget ($302.5 million for fiscal year 2010) and authorized personnel strength of more than 1,300 people, half military, and half civilian employees.
Then and Now
A change in public perception toward U.S. AFRICOM is among the biggest changes Grant has seen since 2008, even extending as far as the level of support received from Congress.
"I used to get the question, 'Why Africa Command?'" explained Grant. "Now I get the question, 'Why didn't the United States stand up this command even sooner?' My most recent experience on [Capitol Hill] was hearing from congressional members asking what more they can do to get us the resources we need."
Getting to this stage was not without challenges. Grant and her team initially focused on building up an integrated staff of military and civilians, to include government, interagency, and contractor personnel. The problem, according to Grant, was that the uncertainty of the command's future location discouraged many civilians from committing to move to Germany.
"After the U.S. Secretary of Defense made the decision to defer the location decision, we've been able to get quality civilians that we need here at the command," Grant stated. This allowed the command to focus its resources on transitioning the hundreds of programs that were formally divided up among three geographic commands (U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command, and U.S. Pacific Command).
Backbone of the Command
While resources might not be at the front of people's minds when they think of U.S. Africa Command, the command's mission would be impossible without this diverse and complex directorate consisting of more than 100 employees. Grant explained that the structure of the Resources Directorate includes six different divisions and combines the areas of human resources (J1) and comptroller (J8), a set-up that differentiates U.S. Africa Command from its sister geographic commands. Responsibilities in the resources directorate are divided into several categories including comptroller, human resources, capabilities and analysis, reserve affairs, science and technology and quality of life.
"I like to say that we're the integrator or the backbone of the command in charge of resourcing--not only funding, but people," explained Grant. "We also integrate strategic assessments, working closely with the other directors and our components. These assessments are important because they provide the commander a measurement of the command’s ability to achieve the six theater strategic objectives he has laid out in his Theater Campaign Plan, and in turn helps determine how to properly resource Africa Command’s missions, programs, and exercises."
She added that manning and funding extends beyond the headquarters in Stuttgart. Part of their job is acting as an advocate for the subordinate commands, such as Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, and ensuring that appropriate manning and policies are established.
U.S. Africa Command received approximately $300 million in fiscal year 2010, well under 1 percent of Department of Defense funding. Some have questioned how U.S. Africa Command can do so much with so little. Grant explained that this budget fits the needs of U.S. Africa Command, which focuses primarily on conflict prevention, rather than conflict response.
"Security force assistance programs cost far less in both money and manpower," Grant said. "Many of U.S. Africa Command’s activities cost less than $300,000, and required fewer than 10 people for periods of less than 30 days," she explained. "However, they provided tremendous added value to our relationships with partners and contributed to stronger, more effective, and more professional defense forces. The success of this Africa Command will be through these small scale engagements, on a sustained basis for the future. They allow our military to prepare our partners to deal with their internal security issues, to avoid conflict, rather than having U.S. forces participating during or after a crisis."
Keys to Success
Grant's enthusiasm for her career is evident from the way she talks and her dedication to the command's mission. Describing how she got to where she is now, Grant said that success depends on having passion for what you're doing.
"If you're not passionate about whatever job you're doing, or your life in general, change it. Do something else," she said. "I believe that you should never stop learning. I don't care how high you get, you need to continue to educate and learn from the people around you and develop professionally."
Growing up in the Washington, D.C., area, Grant became interested in government service at an early age. She worked on Capitol Hill her last year of high school and college summers, but decided to explore the private sector for a few years after graduating from college. While she enjoyed the experience, Grant discovered her passion lay in government work, where she felt she could make a difference participating in the government process. Taking a significant pay cut, she started her government career as a budget analyst for the Department of the Navy, where she worked for nine years. Grant continued working in the Defense Department with positions for the Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
"I was in the Pentagon on 9/11, and it's just increased my passion to work for the Department of Defense," Grant said. "I've been working 20-plus years and I still love what I'm doing."
Grant's said her work ethic and passion for her job does not overshadow that which is most important to her -- family. The youngest of three children, Grant said her parents instilled in her and her siblings three core values--work ethic, a positive attitude, and being a good citizen. A wife and mother to a 12-year-old daughter, Grant said she seeks to maintain a healthy balance between the career and personal life.
"You need to have balance in your life. That refers to not only taking time for your career, but for yourself, your family, and your faith," said Grant. "I call it the annual checkup, where every year I re-look at my life and make sure my daughter is where she needs to be, my career is where it needs to be, etc. You have to be constantly aware and recheck that balance."
Being close to her family is one of Grant's strongest motivating factors of moving back to the D.C. area. She was emotional as she described how important family support was to her throughout the past couple of years with the loss of her father and father-in-law.
"You realize how important the military family is and how they're here for you," she said. "And when I say military family, it's civilians also in an overseas environment. So you realize that your co-workers are also your family support team."
'Brass Ceiling'
Asked about challenges she has faced as a woman in her career, Grant responded that being a female has never hindered her. Instead of the traditional "glass ceiling" facing many women, Grant described her main challenge as the "brass ceiling," or the differences between civilian and military personnel. She explained that military personnel generally have more opportunities for training, development, and leadership than their civilian counterparts, making it difficult for civilians to progress to more senior levels.
However, Grant also said that challenges can be turned into opportunities. For her, this was the chance to deploy as a civilian with CENTCOM to Qatar, where she wore a uniform, trained on weapons, and led a team.
"I can now say that I've had some of the same experiences, and maybe more so than some uniformed military," she said. "So it has helped me in some of my decision-making processes and will help me as I go to the Pentagon, to be able to understand from the field level to the joint HQs level what the military is experiencing."
Also helping her through her career were several mentors, including one from early in her career who reentered her life at U.S. Africa Command. Grant was first introduced to Jeanne Karstens, the new director of Resources, (who served as the deputy director under Grant until August 2010), when Grant was beginning her government career as an intern.
"She's somebody I have watched and admired throughout my career and I just think it's ironic that she's the deputy and is going to step up to be the director," Grant said. "I feel like I'm leaving the directorate and the command in good hands, with somebody who has been one of my mentors along the way."
Finishing a Chapter, Beginning Another One
Grant said she and her family have enjoyed the experience of being in Europe, where they have been able to travel, participate in German-American groups, and reconnect with distant German relatives. They are, also looking forward to being closer to family and hometown friends in the United States.
"I think what I'll miss most about AFRICOM is not being able to see many of the initiatives we started to completion," she said. "But I know it's in good hands. I have full confidence that the quality Resources Directorate team will ensure the initiatives are completed to get the manning, funding, technology, and assessment tools Africa Command needs."
She hopes that U.S. Africa Command's inter-agency structure will serve as a model for other organizations. The command's staff includes approximately 30 personnel from other U.S. government agencies, such as the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
"I'm hoping it will spread into the Washington, D.C. area, to have all our agencies work more closely together. And even bigger than that, I think our collaboration on national security priorities … needs to go international and include the private sector," Grant said.
In her next position, Grant will serve as deputy under secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs at the Pentagon, where she will have oversight and guidance for policy and programs that support national security objectives through political-military affairs, security assistance programs and education and training. She added that this is a job she has been eyeing for years because of the opportunity to engage with international partners and train and enable them to respond to disasters or conflicts.
