Bridging the gap: program fills need for mid-level NCO leadership training

Citizen Airman, April, 2004 by Sean P. Houlihan

In the late 1980s, senior leaders within the Air Force Reserve recognized that a serious gap existed in the professional development of its enlisted force.

To address the needs of young NCOs, there was Airman Leadership School. And the NCO Academy was available for more experienced NCOs. But there was nothing for mid-level NCOs to sort of bridge the gap between the two

To address this shortcoming, the Reserve came up with the NCO Leadership Development Program. Fifteen years later, the program is flourishing as a vital tool for educating Air Force Reserve Command's mid-level NCOs on how to apply the principles of leadership.

"In 1987, there was a need for staff and tech sergeant reservists who were not going to professional military education in residence to learn management and leadership skills required to motivate and lead our force," said Senior Master Sgt. Jeff Jennings, program manager for enlisted programs in the Directorate of Personnel, Headquarters AFRC, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. "The leadership of our command, at that time, had the foresight to recognize this requirement and authorized the development and introduction of today's NCO Leadership Development Program.

Sergeant Jennings said the program has evolved over time, incorporating changes as the command has changed. For example, in the early 1990s the Reserve was facing a problem dealing with the introduction of high year of tenure. Many reservists were unfamiliar with the term, so a block of instruction was added to the course explaining the rationale and implementation of the program. Today, the only mention of high year of tenure is to compare the active-duty and Reserve programs.

Today, the NCOLDP is a 10-day course that combines six days of academic classroom instruction by Central Texas College professors with four days of practical application presented by an all-volunteer facilitator cadre. The course covers communications, counseling, stress management, the management process, leadership and time management.

There are a total of 60 course facilitators, all volunteers in the rank of staff sergeant through chief master sergeant. The only prerequisite to becoming a facilitator is completing NCOLDP and attending special facilitator training.

"Being a facilitator for the program is an additional duty," Sergeant Jennings said. "It takes a commander's approval and support to become a part of this program. There are times when a commander needs the facilitator at the trait, and we make sure the person is available to support the mission."

Twice a year the AFRC Professional Development Center at Robins offers training for new facilitators. Details about applying for the program, as well as application deadlines, are available on the center's Web site (http://wwwmil.afrc.af.mil/hq/dp/dpi/home/ Professional_Development_Center.htm

Master Sgt. Kathy Maxwell, NCO in charge of the program, said that while the NCOLDP curriculum is similar to what reservists would experience in the NCO Academy correspondence course, they have different focuses. NCOLDP is designed to develop leadership and management skills through student interaction. The ability to work together and gain knowledge from each other, along with the opportunity to immediately apply in real-world situations what they learn in the classroom, make the course immediately relevant to reservists both in their military and civilian lives.

"The basic concept of the course goes back to the way people learn the best," Sergeant Maxwell said. "If you tell someone how to do something, they forget it. If you show them, they will remember. But if you involve them, they will remember and understand."

Sergeants Jennings and Maxwell both agreed that the key to the two-week course's success is the facilitators and students working together to create a learning experience the reservists can take back to their work centers and use on a regular basis.

For facilitator Tech. Sgt. Robert Lumby, formerly of the 914th Communications Squadron, Niagara Falls International Airport Air Reserve Station, N.Y., the greatest reward is being able to help fellow NCOs apply leadership and management principles.

"My No. 1 goal is to change the way NCOs approach and solve problems using leadership and management principles taught throughout the course," he said. "The military application portion of the program gives mid-level NCOs a learning laboratory in which they can apply the theories of leadership and management in real time with real scenarios."

In December, Sergeant Lumby was reassigned to the Professional Development Center as assistant NCO in charge of the course. Prior to his reassignment, he served as a facilitator for six to 10 classes a year at various locations around the command. In addition, he spent two to three weeks a year at the PDC teaching the facilitator course or working oil the curriculum. He said he doesn't expect his schedule to change with his new job.

Another facilitator, Senior Master Sgt. Brent Boehme, who has been involved in the program since its beginning, estimates he has taught an average of 20 classes a year, training more than 6,000 NCOs. He said many of his students have gone on to become officers, command chief master sergeants, employees of the year at their civilian job and city government officials.