403rd Senior NCOs learn at home station

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Brian Lamar
  • 403rd Wing Public Affairs
Twenty-four senior noncommissioned officers assigned to the 403rd Wing spent the weekend of July 26-27 putting their combined 475 years of military experience to the test during a Senior NCO Leadership Course held at the Roberts Consolidated Maintenance Facility.

This was the first time this course was offered locally to NCOs on Keesler Air Force Base. According to Senior Master Sgt. Brett Blanchard, the senior Air Reserve Technician of the 403rd Training and Education Office, this was an initiative from the previous senior enlisted member of the 403rd, Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Woitallah, to give wing NCOs a chance to train without having to miss days traveling to another base.

"This is a time and money saver for us [403rd Wing]. Typically the wing will have to send NCOs on temporary duty to another base to get this training," said Blanchard. "We were able to get more 403rd NCOs into this course because we held it locally".

The purpose of the two-day course is to provide senior NCOs the opportunity to analyze and discuss topics like communication, trust, teamwork and current Air Force Reserve Command issues and initiatives.

During the course, NCOs learned how to identify and analyze different personality traits. Other training modules included negotiations and conflict resolution, motivation and recognition and whole-brain thinking, which focused on using a combination of emotional and analytical parts of the brain for more well-rounded decision making.

"This is one of the best course I have attended. There were activities to keep us engaged from the start. We have had a lot of interaction with other senior NCOs from around the Air Force Reserve," said Master Sgt. Eric Marcus , a loadmaster with the 815th Airlift Squadron.

According to Marcus, the real-world applications for this course are going to immediately change how he reacts in the workplace.

"It will force me to look at a young troop and challenge me to try and understand the type of thinker they are, and I will have a better understanding of how they will react to situations," said Marcus.

The cadre, facilitated by two Senior NCOs from other Air Force Reserve Command bases, make up a mobile training team.

The course is considered an important step in building a strong leadership force-wide, according to Blancard.

"The course has recently gained a lot of popularity. It is showing up with senior NCOs as a necessity when they get their vector report," said Blanchard.