Author: Charles Heidelberg

  • Step 1: Receipt of Mission — When Awareness Becomes Action

    “The first duty of any commander is to understand what he is being asked to do.”
     — Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery

    “The first step of MDMP is never taken alone — it starts with people, purpose, and a problem to solve.”

    When a U.S. Army unit of battalion size or larger receives an order—or even an alert that an order is coming—the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) begins.

    In early 2007, the Michigan National Guard unit I belonged to (1-126 Cavalry, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team) was alerted that we should expect to be mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2008. Thus began nearly a year of preparation. Much of it focused on individual and small-unit readiness: M4 carbine qualification, crew-served weapons training, maintenance, new equipment fielding, and a plethora of administrative tasks that accompany deployment. Security clearance renewals, medical screenings, paperwork, life-insurance updates—the list felt endless.

    But while soldiers trained, our commander and his staff began planning how we would execute the mission once we hit the ground. Initially, this planning was broad and conceptual since the specific mission was not yet defined. Over time, it grew sharper: we would provide convoy security to ensure the safe delivery of logistical supplies moving north from Kuwait into Iraq. And all of it began with a single alert order.

    Readiness is built in the details — repetition, feedback, and the willingness to learn before it counts.

    Receiving a mission initiates MDMP. The unit’s current status is updated, available information is gathered, and subordinate units are alerted. The battalion (or, in my case, squadron) commander issues initial guidance to company and troop-level leaders. It’s the start of deliberate, coordinated thought.

    At our community college, this step most closely resembles the identification of a problem. Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s mission—

    “Kalamazoo Valley Community College creates innovative and equitable opportunities that empower all to learn, grow, and thrive.”

    —serves as our equivalent to a higher-headquarters order. It defines the purpose and intent of all we do. When challenges emerge that inhibit that mission, a deliberate decision-making process becomes valuable in identifying courses of action and determining the best path forward.

    As I’ve shared in earlier posts, MDMP offers more than a military planning tool—it provides a framework for disciplined, inclusive problem solving. Step 1, Receipt of Mission, reminds us that the moment a problem or directive is identified, the clock starts ticking. How we process that initial alert determines the tempo, clarity, and success of everything that follows.

    Looking Ahead: Step 2 — Mission Analysis

    Once the mission is received, the real work of understanding begins. Step 2, Mission Analysis, is where we dissect the problem, clarify assumptions, identify constraints, and define success. It’s the bridge between awareness and action—the point where good leaders transform orders into understanding. That will be the focus of my next post: how the discipline of Mission Analysis applies not just to combat operations, but to our classrooms, campuses, and communities.

  • Introduction to the Military Decision-Making Process — “If Everyone Is Thinking Alike…”

    Introduction to the Military Decision-Making Process — “If Everyone Is Thinking Alike…”

    “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” — Gen. George S. Patton

    In 2008, when my Cavalry squadron mobilized at then–Fort Hood, Texas, I was pretty cocky about the kind of intelligence officer I’d be downrange. I’d spent five years overseas as an intelligence collector for another agency, and I’d completed the Reserve Component Military Intelligence Officer Course at Fort Huachuca. I figured I’d be fine.

    Then pre-deployment training introduced me to the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP). As the Squadron S2, my job was to know everything available about the threat to our troopers. Our first training exercise packet—enemy order of battle, weapons systems, terrain, local communities—ran to hundreds of pages. I didn’t read it all, assuming I could wing it or look up facts on the fly.

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    When my squadron commander (who I suspect is reading this) asked for details I couldn’t answer, then asked if I’d read all the material, I admitted I hadn’t. He made it clear, in his own special way, that this was unacceptable. We were preparing to deploy to Iraq—hardly the time for cockiness, a lackadaisical attitude, or anything less than my best. I learned a lot that day.

    From Combat Operations to Campus Operations

    In higher education, I often talk about deliberate decision-making, and since 2008 my model has been MDMP. I define college deliberate decision making as a structured, intentional process for making choices that align actions with clearly defined outcomes—and with the institution’s mission and strategic plan.

    MDMP itself is a deliberate, collaborative framework Army leaders use to make informed, coordinated decisions in complex conditions. It’s a seven-step process that I’ll cover across several posts. It’s structured yet flexible (I rarely executed all seven steps in perfect sequence). And it demands input from every member of the commander’s staff.

    In the Army that includes personnel, logistics, operations, communications, intelligence, civil affairs, and more. In higher ed it often includes Counseling & Advising, Financial Services, Recruitment & Outreach, Development, Events, Wellness, and others.

    Why It Matters in Higher Education

    Colleges aren’t facing hostile fire, but our challenges are often complex, fast-moving, and nuanced—the exact environment where a deliberate decision-making model helps. Think student persistence and academic success, degree and certificate completion, cross-department coordination, and shifting federal and state priorities for different student populations.

    MDMP gives us a common language and method to move from operations to outcomes—on purpose.

    The Seven Steps of MDMP

    1. Receipt of Mission
    2. Mission Analysis
    3. Course of Action (COA) Development
    4. COA Analysis
    5. COA Comparison
    6. COA Approval
    7. Orders Production, Dissemination, and Transition

    At its heart, MDMP isn’t just about decisions—it’s about trust and collaboration. Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, reminds us that trust allows teams to engage in healthy conflict, commit to a plan, and hold each other accountable. Without that foundation, even the best process falters.

    The military understood that long ago, and higher education can learn from it today: when people trust each other enough to debate, challenge, and commit, that’s when we start thinking together instead of alike.

    Next Up

    In my next post, I’ll explore Step 1: Receipt of Mission—how deliberate decision-making begins with clarity of purpose and a shared understanding before the planning ever begins.

  • Why Military Planning Belongs in Higher Education: A Framework for Student Success

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    From Convoy Missions to Campus Missions

    It’s been a long time since that photo was taken.  That’s me in the center with the gun truck crew I lead during a convoy support mission in Iraq in 2008.  I was assigned to the 126th Cavalry Squadron, Michigan Army National Guard. My primary role was as the Squadron Electronic Warfare Officer, responsible for supporting the squadron’s convoy mission by helping to prepare for and defeat the threat of radio controlled improvised explosive devices (RCIEDs) in the battle space.  But man did I like going on mission.  It gave me a more selfish sense of being in the fight, and a justifiable understanding of how the IED threat was playing out for our troopers.  Four years after this picture was taken in Iraq I found myself in Afghanistan in Kandahar province attached to a cavalry troop of the 126th providing intel support in their mission to stop the flow of improvised explosive material (homemade bomb explosives) from Pakistan to the city of Kandahar and beyond.

    Before and after both these deployments I had served in education.  I was a teacher and administrator in several parochial schools in the Kalamazoo area until 2020 when I took a job as Veteran Services Coordinator at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Today I am still at Valley serving as the Director of Recruitment and Outreach.  Throughout my years as a teacher, advisor, coordinator, and administrator, I’ve leaned on lessons learned as a U.S. Army staff officer. For example, I’ve encouraged:

    • Methodical decision-making over impulsive reactions.
    • Clear courses of action based on available knowledge and data.
    • Timelines that prevent endless talk about a problem without ever finding a plan to address it.

    It’s my hope to codify these lessons—what Army procedures transfer most effectively into education—and share ideas for making community college structures work more efficiently.

    Mission and Intent

    In true Army fashion, I’ve given myself both a mission and a statement of intent:

    • Mission: Provide practical, military-inspired strategies that help colleges remove barriers, strengthen student pathways, and drive better outcomes during and after college.
    • Intent: Using data and personal experience, this blog will offer a roadmap to improve student development, engagement, and post-college success by giving college faculty, staff, and administrators a new way of looking at challenges—through the lens of military combat planning and operations.

    Why Community Colleges

    While these methodologies have value across education, corporations, and other organizations, my decision is to focus on the community college landscape. Community colleges are where I work, where I serve, and what I deeply believe in. They are also where structure, clarity, and intentional planning can have the biggest impact on students’ lives.

    Setting the Stage

    This is just the beginning. In future posts, I’ll break down specific Army frameworks—mission analysis, courses of action, operations orders—and show how they apply directly to student development and institutional effectiveness.

    If you work in higher education, I’d love to hear from you:

    • Where do you see decision-making get stuck on your campus?
    • Where could a new framework help move things forward?

    Thank you for being here—and welcome to the start of this campaign.