An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

New training method, suggested by Airmen, pays off for squadron

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Donald Mccoy
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Air Force Smart Operations 21
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Imagine a shop where the first-term Airmen have a say in day-to-day operations. That's exactly what happened in the 375th Communications Squadron last week.

"We all know our jobs and our supervisors give us the chance to further learn and be heard," said Airman 1st Class Jonathon Person, 375th Communication Squadron, Knowledge Operations Management apprentice.

Person is referring to the unique approach Master Sgt. Eva Reese, 375th Communications Squadron Knowledge Operations Center section chief, used to train her team of 42 Airmen. According to Reese, six months ago her Airmen came to her, pointing out tasks that could be improved if she trained all her Airmen in month-long blocks compared to the old way consisting of one-on-one with a supervisor.

This was a radical departure from the traditional training approach, but she decided to give it a try.

"There were no set days of training, so we implemented set days of training for all personnel, which increased our core task completion rate because we were training on all aspects (official mail, EIM and sharepoint, records management and publication) of our career field," said Reese.

"Airmen began to take a more involved approach in the training. All the Airmen were learning faster as they improved their skills in a team environment."

Person went on to suggest that preparation for the upcoming Operational Readiness Exercise would be easier for the Airmen if it were accomplished as part of their new training process.

Lt. Col. Donald W. Cloud, 375th Communications Squadron commander, said the eight-step training provided to all the squadron personnel was paying off. Airmen and NCO's skills of identifying problems and developing solutions, leadership encouraging and promoting smart has shown actionable improvements.

"Our Airmen have incredible talents just waiting to be unleashed to make things better," said Cloud. "Our job as leaders is to leverage and guide their talents and energy and then watch the magic happen."