From the Field to the Classroom: How Erick Hume Enhances Military Planning Skills at UVA

Autumn Hong headshot Autumn Hong,  
5 months ago

"UVA’s DOD Master Planning Institute is a leap forward for academia." - Erick Hume

Erick Hume HeadshotAs a proud father of three daughters and longtime military planner, Erick Hume has a busy schedule. Even so, he found time to invest in himself this year by taking the Military Master Planning Advanced Techniques class at UVA | Northern Virginia.

This class is part of UVA | Northern Virginia’s newest program, the Department of Defense Master Planning Institute. Offered by UVA | Northern Virginia, the UVA School of Architecture, and the US Army Corps of Engineers, this program provides a unique blend of academic excellence and practical military planning experience, helping participants become military master planners. Students can take one class or complete all course requirements to earn a Certificate of Completion in Military Master Planning.


Q. What is your professional and educational background?

A. My professional education includes a BA in Urban Planning from the University of Washington and an AA in Construction Management from Pierce College. I’m certified in AUTOCAD, ARCGIS, and Microsoft Project. My military education includes 120A WOILE, WOAC and WOBC; 12T BNCOC, PLDC and AIT. Additionally, I’ve completed a Base Camp Master Planning course, 1391 Processor course, MILCON Planning course, Joint Engineer Operations Course, and a Joint Engineer Management Systems user and trainer course.

Q. Why did you take Advanced Techniques at UVA | Northern Virginia?

A. UVA’s DOD Master Planning Institute was the perfect fit to expand my knowledge in military facility planning while giving me the opportunity to see how other military master planners approach different challenges.

Q.What was the most valuable takeaway from the class?

A. It gave me multiple perspectives on how other master planners approach problems and desired outcomes. It was very interesting and surprising how a lot of master planners did not use official DOD systems like HQIIS, ASIP, or even RPLANS as a starting point for approaching planning requirements. 

Q. What would you say to someone considering taking this class?

A. UVA’s DOD Master Planning Institute is a leap forward for academia. It is great to see a partnership forming between DOD and academia to acknowledge that planning on military installations is unique. Urban planning concepts and principles are often difficult, unfeasible, or impractical to apply onto military installations due to military operations and security concerns.

Interested in the DOD Master Planning Institute? Check out our full list of classes or enroll in our next Advanced Techniques class today!