Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Discuss this article Flame the author     In this article Introduction Career Builder Private Lessons Bigger Plans On Location, Series 4 Vital Stats Army-Navy Game Lt. Eric Morris Capt. Fred S. Bertsch III (ret) Chris Piereman

Program Manager, Navy Knowledge Online

At Work: Develop and execute business strategies enabled by our portal

At Home: 45 years old. Married to Lt. Lisa Morris, the supply officer on the USS Trenton (LPD 14). Two daughters, including a 19-year-old who was the 2002-2003 Army ROTC Cadet of the Year

Alma Mater: New York Regents University, B.A. in English

How He Got Here:

1998 to present: Rose to the officer rank of lieutenant, U.S. Navy

1982 to 1998: Rose to the enlisted rank of master chief electronics technician, U.S. Navy

Mouthing Off:

Why I joined the military: "For a chance to serve my country while improving my education."

The most misunderstood aspect of being a sailor: "Being a sailor requires commitment unlike any of the other armed forces. Not to take anything away from the other branches, but our sailors are out at sea for months on end---whether we're involved in armed conflict or not. There's a reason that when tensions arise anywhere on Earth the president's first question is, 'Where's the nearest aircraft carrier?'"

Greatest challenge for NKO: "Delivering on the promise we represent for instantaneous connection to people and ideas. We must create powerful content, find innovative ways to deliver it to ships with little bandwidth, and integrate widely disparate databases--and do it in a hurry."

Toughest moment during NKO project: "To get to a place where the Navy--or any large business--re-creates itself as a knowledge-centric organization, there must be fundamental and transformational efforts in play that force us to re-examine who we are and what we envision ourselves as being able to do in the future."

My next career: "I'd like to take what I've learned about workforce transformation and apply it in the private sector."