PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Applications are being accepted until Jan. 5, 2018, for a four-day innovation boot camp course designed to improve efforts Navy-wide.

The course, hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet’s (COMPACFLT) The Bridge initiative and Military District 5 (MD5), will be held in San Diego, Feb. 6–9, 2018.

The Bridge is a COMPACFLT initiative designed to give all Sailors, regardless of rank or experience, an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas for improving the Navy.

During the boot camp, participants will learn design thinking and lean methodology to help them develop concepts and brainstorm initial solutions to solve potential issues within their organizations.

“By teaching Sailors at all levels how to identify and frame problems, how to generate ideas to solve problems, and methods by which solutions can be implemented, we can enable change in both the near term and long term,” said Cmdr. Thomas Ogden, director, COMPACFLT Strategic Initiatives Group. “We expect that attendees take what they learn in this course and not only use it to solve problems, but to influence those around them to do the same.

"The process by which we make advances in policy and technology requires a willingness to try something new. Through the design thinking process, Sailors will learn how to quickly find where there are gaps in their ideas and then generate a solution at a more rapid pace.”

After the four-day course, participants will use what they learned to continue developing, testing, and refining their solutions for a period of 30 to 90 days.

During that period, The Bridge and MD5 will meet with course participants and promote collaboration between teams and stakeholders in the Pacific Fleet and MD5 communities.

Select teams will have the opportunity to pitch their finalized concepts to Pacific Fleet senior leadership at the COMPACFLT Commanders Conference held in spring of 2018.

“The Bridge connects the 140,000 Sailors in the Pacific Fleet,” said Ogden. “By connecting the boot camp participants directly to fleet leadership, it shows them that senior leaders are not only paying attention to the efforts from the deckplates but want to implement the solutions that have impact on the deckplates.”

Apply online by Jan. 5, 2018, at www.md5.net/educationapplication, or learn more by visiting The Bridge website.