Every groundbreaking innovation ignites from a spark-- a moment, an experience, or an encounter that compels us to challenge the norm.
Cmdr. Erik A.H. Sand’s Automated Alerts for SELRES Gains and Losses program innovation came directly from experience leading Reserve units. “My idea came from a hole that I saw that could be filled in what was often a frustrating process for Navy Reserve unit leadership,” said the Lake Elmo, Minnesota native.
Vice Adm. John B. Mustin, Chief of Navy Reserve and Commander, Navy Reserve Force, announced Cmdr. Sand as the winning entry of the third annual i3 Waypoints competition in a streaming broadcast July 25, 2024.
Mustin launched i3 Waypoints to harness the ideas of Sailors who accomplish challenging tasks each day with their innovation and creativity, to fast-track transformative ideas from across the Navy directly to the highest levels of the Reserve force, without filters, administrative friction, or bureaucratic barriers along the way, and to accelerate the aggressive transformation of the Navy Reserve as a key Warfighting-Ready component of the nation’s defense architecture.
Cmdr. Sand, a Selected Reserves Sailor currently attached to Navy Reserve Center (NRC) New London, in Connecticut, is an Assistant Professor in the Strategic and Operational Department at the renowned U.S. Naval War College. Sand initially conceptualized his idea after continually experiencing an administrative disconnect in the process of Sailors reporting to and detaching from NRC units when the gaining and losing commands wouldn’t know about Sailors arrival or departure until it was too late.
“I can't tell you how many times I've had a Sailor assigned or detached to my unit without anyone knowing about it. When I was on active duty, we would get a naval message every time a Sailor received orders to or from our command. I thought a similar notification could help with a lot of frustration in the Reserve Force.”
It wasn’t just about trying to win the competition for Sand. It was about “trying to grab some 'low hanging fruit' that could improve the functioning of Reserve units and lives of Reserve Sailors,” he said. “I was less concerned about winning and mostly just wanted to try and make my idea happen. Winning was gratifying, but mostly I'm excited about the chance to help implement this improvement.”
i3 Waypoints is an approach to inventing: innovating something entirely new; improving upon something already established; or integrate several ideas, products or processes rendering the former completely obsolete.
Now in its third iteration, the i3 Waypoints competition has garnered more than 230 total submissions. However this year, only five final entries were subsequently chosen and presented to a panel hosted by Mustin a bit earlier this summer. The rest of the impressive and highly qualified panelists included, Cmdr. Ernest K. Jessop, who’s application “Reserve Artificial Intelligence Navigator (RAIN)” was the winning entry of i3 Waypoints 2023, and is now in operation at MNHR.mil, Mr. Bruce E. Mosler, Chairman, Global Brokerage of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., Command Master Chief Nicole C. Rios, Command Master Chief of Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command, and Chief (Select) Fire Controlman John A. Clements, the 2023 Navy Reserve Sailor of the Year.
“The large number of creative, thoughtful strategic ideas submitted in a relatively short timeframe far exceeded our original expectations,” said Mustin. “It demonstrates our Reserve Force’s commitment to innovate, improve efficiencies, and reduce administrative burdens, allowing us to focus on warfighting readiness – our one and only priority. Very little is more important to us than keeping the direct pipeline open for creative ideas to flow to top leadership without filter or disruption and improve our force’s warfighting readiness.”
The other i3 Waypoints finalists and their ideas were:
Lt. Cmdr. Frank J. Harshman, Jr., NRC Anchorage, NR NORCOM ALCOM AK.
Idea: “Unit Management Education”
Cmdr. Brian A. Potoski, NRC Charlotte, NR NMRTC Camp Lejeune.
Idea: “Navy Reserve Sea Readiness Force Development”
Cmdr. Keriki N. Purkiss, OPNAV N96.
Idea: “Career Resource and Employment Widget (CREW)”
Cmdr. Daniel S. Shevenell, NRC Newport, NR C7F FUPLANS N5.
Idea: “Improve SAAR Routing”
And while five finalists have been selected for the final round, all submissions hold value and
are being explored for implementation across the Reserve Force.
The streamlined broadcast can be viewed at: