MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. – McConnell began a Flight Commander Course to prepare young officers as they grow into future leadership roles.
Nine lieutenants and captains from various career fields met in the education center to start the two-day course.
Seeing that not all officers were receiving all the information they needed, Lt. Col. Jasmine Silence, 350th Air Refueling Squadron commander, stepped in to mentor the first class.
“The intent is to arm our future flight commanders with all the knowledge that we wish we would have had on our way to become squadron commanders,” said Silence. “In retrospect, we know we can do a better job at arming them now than we have done in the past.”
Much like how senior airmen attend Airman Leadership School to learn how to effectively supervise and lead Airmen prior to becoming noncommissioned officers, officers are taught similar information during the course.
While there is a course offered at Air Mobility Command headquarters to meet the needs of some, not all lieutenants and captains are able to attend.
“We want the rest of the population to get the resources they need to take care of their Airmen,” said Silence. “They need to know of the base resources to be the best supervisor they can be and foster their talent and mentor them to set them up for success.”
The class involved panels of squadron commanders, first sergeants, chiefs and base support; focus career progression for enlisted and officers; writing and reviewing enlisted performance reports; manpower; blended retirement and closed with a meeting with base leadership.
Capt. Fabian Tafuna, 22nd Air Refueling Wing chaplain, said the panels brought the most insight to him throughout the course.
“The chiefs and squadron commanders shared interpersonal dilemmas that they have to balance while protecting the Air Force as well as the Airmen,” said Tafuna. “It is important to care for an individual Airman. Sometimes you become too focused on the mission, but we can’t do the mission without the Airmen.”
The classmates discussed valuable personal and professional experiences amongst themselves to learn from each other.
“Sometimes as a maintenance lieutenant, you supervise 200 Airmen, whereas on the operations side we don’t ever get to supervise 50 people,” said Silence.
The course will continue to evolve based on feedback to meet the needs of the officers at the base as more participate in future classes throughout the year.
“The more knowledgeable you are, the more prepared you are as a supervisor,” said Silence. “The idea is to broaden their horizons beyond what they already knew.”