Is it a training issue or a leadership issue?

  • Published
  • By Col. Don Grannan
  • 88th Communications Group commander
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  These are interesting times ... Our Air Force is the smallest it's been since before World War II. And while the men and women who comprise our all-volunteer force are qualified on highly technical equipment and skills that require dedication and discipline, the average age of the planes they fly and maintain is on the order of 27 years old, while their networks and technology grow increasingly more intricate and complex every year.    
  
And they've deployed countless times to apply their craft in austere and sometimes hostile environments to serve a nation that has been at war for more than a decade. 
  
The performance of this incredibly small force of Airmen, providing the greatest air and space force in history, is greatly dependent upon our effectiveness as a team. And the responsibility for building and protecting that team, while also developing the team's next leaders, falls in the commander's and leader's realm. These two issues have too great of an impact to be delegated away to computer based trainings (CBTs), mandatory briefings or base mentor-ship programs. 
  
There are multitudes of training aids (yes, many are mandated), to help leaders instill and reinforce values and behavior that build and protect the team. But without the commander's or leader's reinforcement into the culture and environment, the issue simply becomes a training one, delegated by default to the CBTs and mandatory Sexual Assault & Response Coordinator briefings. Using Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) as one example, commanders should own this issue. Your troops should know why you won't tolerate sexual predators in your unit. Not because it's illegal, or in violation of Air Force instructions, but because you, personally, will not allow that monster to impact your teammates and your teamwork. 
  
Do they hear that message from the commander all the way to the shift supervisor? And do they see it backed up with action, not just words? That CBT or SAPR brief is one step in the means to the end, not the end itself. And the commander owns the end result: a more effective team executing our warfighting or support mission. It's a leadership thing, not just a training thing. 
  
Like ethics and professional behavior, developing new leaders is vital to sustaining the team. But it's a leadership responsibility that shouldn't be delegated solely to formal mentoring programs or relegated to occasionally passing on promotion rates and career mapping. That short-sighted mentorship only perpetuates the ascent of individuals who expertly navigate the promotion system but may lack effective vision and credibility in their craft. 
  
Commanders and leaders should develop new leaders by helping them understand three underlying questions: 1) How do we accomplish the mission in today's environment? 2) How is our environment and mission changing? 3) Where will I be and how should I lead in that new environment? 
  
We are the smallest Air Force in modern history with incredibly challenging resource issues. These issues drive us to innovative solutions and priority decisions. Our Airmen need to understand your thought process and decision-making as they develop their own leadership models in a changing landscape. This type of mentoring happens daily through moments of opportunity on the flight-line, in the network data centers and on post with security forces. It is imbedded in our war stories at the club as we share our legacy and heritage. And it happens in "gripe sessions" and water cooler discussions with senior personnel. But most importantly, it occurs from the daily interactions of engaged leaders with their Airmen. 
  
These are enormous responsibilities that we ignore, or simply delegate as training issues, at our own peril.