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New mentoring program provides Amn tools for success

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Terri Paden
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  What do you get when you cross junior Airmen with seasoned non-commissioned officers? The new 15th Wing Staff Agency Airmen Mentoring Program.

A group of 15 WG Airmen gathered at Hickam Harbor recently to gather the tools necessary to shape their careers as future NCOs.

The new monthly mentoring program, initiated by 15 WG Command Chief, Chief Master Sgt. Leslie Bramlett, is a top down effort intended to provide junior airmen and NCOs with the information necessary for successful career progression.

For April's session, WSA Airmen, ranks airman basic through senior airman, were treated to a beach-side gathering at Hickam Beach to discuss the importance of interpersonal communication.

The training, hosted by Staff Sgt. Thomas Hazlewood, 15th Wing Plans and Programs office, and facilitated by mental health technician Staff Sgt. Tamia Griffie, guided the junior airmen through an interactive discussion on the connection between personality types and leadership styles. Hazlewood said the skill will be key for the young airmen moving forward in their Air Force careers as future front- line supervisors.

"If you understand your supervisor's style of leadership, it makes it a lot easier to understand how to accomplish tasks and conduct yourself at work," he said. "Also, understanding how to interact with conflicting personalities can make it easier on you as a leader to tailor your leadership style to suit your subordinate's needs and build a cohesive work environment. I think this is absolutely a skill they will need to use to conduct day-to-day operations for the rest of their careers."

Hazlewood said the new mentoring program is an excellent way to reach out to young Airmen.
"Ultimately they are the ones that are going to replace us. These are the front-line supervisors in two or three years and we have to train them to do our job," he said. "We have to show them the way if we want them to be successful, that's why mentorship is such a huge deal. If no one shows them, then how will they know? It's our job to show them what it means to be good NCOs so we got to sit down and talk to them now."

"My first priority is to take care of the mission," said Bramlett. "The second is to take care of our replacements. We want to develop Airmen from a professional perspective."

According to Bramlett, the new Airmen Mentoring Program is an active form of developing the Air Force's future leaders.

"We're so good with passive development in the Air Force," he said. "Any chief will sit down with any Airman that comes to them for mentoring, but active development is going to Airmen and offering them all the information."

In an effort to become more proactive with mentoring Airmen, Bramlett charged wing senior NCOs with developing a program that would apply a hands-on approach. The result--a monthly Airmen mentoring session led by staff sergeants, and an NCO session lead by technical sergeants. The forum has quickly caught on with other units on base as well.

"Ultimately the 15 WG commander establishes his priorities for the wing, and I align my priorities with his vision," he said. "One of my priorities is enlisted development and excellenc, but it takes hard work to make a dream a reality and the senior NCOs took that idea from me and ran with it."

At the end of the day, Bramlett said it's all about taking the time to care. It's about NCOs saying "hey I care about the Airmen under me, so I'm going to take the time to mentor them," and that goes from airmen on up to senior NCOs.

Bramlett said he hopes the idea of peer-lead mentoring sessions creates a feeling of ownership of the program.

"For years we put the names of dedicated crew chiefs on their jets. This was to create a sense of ownership, because when you own something you're more invested in it, and that's what we want to happen with the peer-lead mentoring sessions," he said.

With the new program well underway, Bramlett said the sky is the limit for developing future leaders and he hopes to create an environment that doesn't just produce one future chief master sergeant, but many.

"If you want to go fast go by yourself; if you want to go far then go together. But we as an Air Force won't go far unless we bring along many," said Bramlett.