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Development Program shapes Barksdale's new officers

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amber Corcoran
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Professional Military Education contributes to the preparation of not only the enlisted force but to company grade officers as well, as they progress through their careers for leadership at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.

Recently, 20 CGOs attended the Lieutenant Profession Development Program, a PME-type course held here Dec. 3-6, in lieu of the Air and Space Basic Course which was phased out across the Air Force.

"The Air Force Global Strike Command initiative bridges the gap between the junior officers commissioning source and squadron officer school," said 1st Lt. Carissa Hoosline, 2nd Force Support Squadron Manpower and Personnel Flight commander. "The command wanted to go for a local approach since there was no other program to take ASBC's place, and first assignment officers [to include not only lieutenants but captains at their first base], still needed to receive proper education prior to going to SOS."

Along with other PME courses, career broadening programs and tech schools, the LPDP belongs to the 2nd FSS Force Development flight. When AFGSC sent the guidelines for the program, which needed to include 25 hours of professional seminars and seven hours of senior leader forums, the flight got right to work to develop a local plan for Barksdale CGOs.

"We reached out to who we thought would be the subject matter experts in particular areas of the guidelines," Hoosline said. "Most points of contact had great interest and definitely wanted to speak to the CGOs. We built panels as well for base commanders, chiefs, first sergeants and civilians, to give the officers a chance to ask direct questions and receive appropriate feedback about the mission here and their duties."

Other speakers included Master Sgt. Marquet Johnson, Barksdale's Career Assitance Advisor, who spoke on effective communication and Chief Master Sgt. Cathy Barnhart, 2nd Force Support Squadron, who spoke about enlisted evaluation systems. Supplemental briefings were also held on topics such as legal issues as well as briefings from the base chaplain.

"Briefers also included leadership from the command, so the students are lucky they got the perspective of both the wing and command," said Hoosline.

The young officers agreed.

"The program definitely helped us gain a larger perspective on not only the mission at Barksdale but for Global Strike as well," said 2nd Lt. Justin Wilson, 2nd Security Forces Squadron logistics officer. "We may play a small part in the mission, but we learned we still support the overall success of the mission."

One of the themes of the program was that military leaders are developed through a combination of PME, training and experience, along with mentoring and development.

"Learning about the basics and foundation of our Air Force missions was truly valuable," said 2nd Lt. Dane McKenzie, 343rd Bomb Squadron navigator in-training. "We were able to really talk with senior leaders and it showed us how they think and how to act in return. The program really enlightens you on what's going on in the bigger Air Force and how we impact it every day."

The program is also unique since reservists were able to attend the class as well. It's a great opportunity for them since they don't often get the chance to partake in PME, said Hoosline.

"It bridged the gap of communication between the reservists and active duty," said McKenzie, which, as a part of the 343rd BS, is also attached to the 307th Bomb Wing. "It's great to know that our leadership is backing us up in pursuing not only professional development, but personal as well. The networking we were able to achieve from being in a PME course with our active-duty counterparts was immeasurable."

Wilson added that the networking with other new CGOs to Barksdale and sitting through the leadership panels helped them in the longer run.

"Some of us have no military background, have been in the Air Force a short amount of time, or really haven't gone through any kind of PME like this before, so it's an eye-opener," he said. "We really got to see what our job is as CGOs and how to also take care of our Airmen as leaders."