Twenty-five senior noncommissioned officers from nine locations spent the weekend of Nov. 4-5 exploring teamwork, communication and leadership as part of an Air Force Reserve Command Senior NCO Leadership Development Course.
AFRC’s Senior NCO Leadership Development Course provides senior enlisted members the chance to improve their skills in several areas including leadership, communication, conflict resolution and teamwork. This course also provides an opportunity to learn about current AFRC leadership initiatives.
Fourteen air reserve technicians and traditional reservists, seven active duty reserve personnel and three regular Air Force active duty personnel gathered for the course, representing the Total Force Integration Concept. The TFIC is designed to create component force-mix options where Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve forces are functionally integrated and operationally indistinguishable from the active force while preserving the unique strengths of each component.
The two-day course challenged students on concepts of whole-brain thinking, negotiation, conflict resolution and creativity. One of the exercises required four teams of students to build flying machines out of available resources using creativity and innovative thinking. The purpose of this exercise was to get the students thinking about how to, as leaders, create an environment that welcomes creative thinking and problem solving techniques.
Day two of the course included a visit from Chief Master Sgt. Jimmie Morris, 340th Flying Training Group superintendent, who spoke to the class about his four tenets of leadership, career development and career progression. Morris said this is the first time in the history of the Air Force Reserve that JBSA-Randolph has hosted this course.
“It’s not just about the 340th Flying Training Group or Randolph, it’s about the students being able to apply and share the information they learned in the course,” said Morris.
The 340th Flying Training Group will host a week-long NCO Leadership Development Course in Jan. 2017. This will also be a first for JBSA-Randolph.