HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Developing leaders among peers is the mission of the Hanscom Air Force Base Company Grade Officers Council. This is why the council held a three-day Flight Commanders Course at the base education center from Sept. 12-14.
The course wasn’t just about an individual’s growth.
“The Air Force is a lifestyle; we’re professionals. This isn’t just a job,” said Chief Master Sgt. Michael Kovach, 319th Recruiting Squadron superintendent. “This is more than just a job, and if you treat it that way, you will be concerned about deliberately developing yourself … about the mission and how you get it done.”
The course is geared towards junior officers and senior civilian personnel who are in leadership or supervisory roles. Nine Air Force officers and four civilian employees attended the September course.
“The main intent is to try to teach the toolset of how, as a leader, you can help the people that you are supervising and help develop them and their careers,” said 1st Lt. Samuel Barnes, volunteer chairman for the course, who was also instrumental in designing the curriculum.
At his last assignment, Barnes was in charge of 75 people.
“If you don’t empower the people to do the job, and you just bark off orders, the morale goes down and the mission isn’t done as effectively,” he said.
The senior NCO in his last unit had nearly 20 years of experience in the career field. Barnes sought his advice and watched him interact with the military and civilian personnel.
“Seeing it in action drills home the lessons that we read about in books and talk about in classes,” said Barnes. “Everything that I learned from him helped me become a better person and a better leader.”
Barnes’s experience is why Kovach and four other senior noncommissioned officers from across the installation were asked to be part of the course and give advice on how they would mentor new leaders.
The first question set the tone for the discussion.
“What would you say is your biggest challenge with working with new officers in a leadership role?” asked Capt. Kristen Cepak, a pilot who is currently working as a program manager for Battle Management. “And what would you recommend to overcome those challenges?”
Ask for advice from your NCOs, said the panel participants, but the decision -- and the responsibility for that decision -- is yours.
“Don’t be afraid of failure; embrace it,” said Senior Master Sgt. Richard Ruiz, 66th Air Base Group Commanders Action Group superintendent. “We learn from our failures. Don’t be afraid to get out and lead your people.”
Another question dealt with what some consider a Hanscom issue.
“We don’t have a lot of interaction with enlisted folks, and I work with one,” said Capt. William Cowan, a Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorate engineer. “How do we as Hanscom officers try to mold and shape those young enlisted?”
“If you’re their only mentor, you have to set the example,” said Master Sgt. Jack Brown, Operational Contracting Division superintendent.
And a good resource, according to Brown and Kovach, can be found in Air Force Instruction 36-2618, The Enlisted Force Structure, otherwise known as The Little Brown Book.
The course is not just for uniformed personnel.
“I’ve been very impressed with this whole course,” said Wayne Anderson, a Navy veteran and Battle Management program manager. “I’m learning more about Air Force structure in this one short class than I’ve learned in six years (working) on base.”
The interaction between the students and the senior NCOs was so intense that they went over their allotted time, but all were in agreement that the session was worthwhile.
For Barnes and the CGOC, the question is not whether will they hold this course again, but whether it will be a quarterly or biannual event?