The Praevius Group had the fortunate opportunity to join in and lead an Officer Professional Development Off-Site with the 8^th Military Police Brigade at the Ko’Olina’s Ihilani Resort in Hawaii on the 28^th of May 2009.  Almost 100 officers from various units stationed in Hawaii participated in the day long program.

As part of this event, Mr. Nate Self presented his 2002 story from a fierce battle atop Takur Ghar, in the mountains of Afghanistan.  During this emotionally charged and moving presentation, Mr. Self honored the Soldiers that made the ultimate sacrifice under his command and shared the challenging decisions that his Team faced atop that mountain seven years ago.

In addition, Mr. Chris Miller led multiple discussions around moral development and ethical decision-making in the afternoon session.  During these discussions, the Praevius team challenged the room of leaders with recent moral and ethical vignettes from Soldiers around the Army.  As part of these case studies, the group discussed the application of moral frameworks for making ethical decisions and techniques for better understanding moral intensity.

Throughout the day’s events, Mr. Self and Mr. Miller expressed the importance of each leader telling his or her own stories and effectively communicating the messages and themes that are part of the “war stories” that are so important to each of these men and women.  Each officer in the room had an opportunity to share their own stories with their small groups and to discuss why the story was fundamental to their own development.   The day concluded with the Praevius Team challenging the officers to develop and enact a moral development plan for each of their units.