One thing that certainly surprised me over the past week of training was the interpersonal communication lesson. I was surprised at how much easier it was to tackle the scenarios versus when I was in ALS. I’m not sure if it’s from practical experience with temperamental Airmen under my supervision, or communications and interview skills gained as a Public Affairs guy. I’m guessing both play into it. Regardless, my ability to think on my feet and coax solutions out of reluctant Airmen has improved over the years, and I’m sure the skills I’ve learned about temperaments and teambuilding will help me get even better.
Another area of interest has been the Human Performance lessons. Yesterday’s burpee challenge really put my will to the test, especially fighting off a slight cold or allergies. The unexpected lap around the track made my heart sink a little, but then it was pretty cool to see how a group of NCOs who have formed into a team can quickly adapt to a challenge and see it through, despite extreme fatigue. I hope to use some of these exercises in the future to help me maintain my fitness level and stop the cycle of pass test, overexert and injure myself, atrophy, prep for test, and then test again. I know it’s one of my biggest challenges as an Airman, and one that I’ve struggled with for quite some time now.
The lesson about resource stewardship was another helpful one. While I’ve been part of the request process many times now, and have a generalized idea of what the fiscal year is, I didn’t know all the specifics about deadlines and adjustments. The unit manpower document is another such instance. I’ve been working on tracking systems for our production, and had a generalized idea of what they are and how they work, but I didn’t realize that the superintendent of the office can request a change to the authorization.
While the emergent leadership issues were largely repeats for me because of my role in communicating those very same principles through Public Affairs, the joint warfighter, joint organization, and nuclear enterprise lessons were somewhat eye-opening. I’ve always been bad at remembering specific facts, names, relationships, etc., so the more I’m exposed to it, the better. Creative concepts and problem solving are more my forte. To be honest, I’m still not sure I fully understand how everything fits together in a joint environment, but at least I have study material now and understand more than I did before. This is especially useful in my job since more often than not, we get joint taskings or have to work with other branches on a case-by-case basis.
The MC01 activities were an interesting change of pace. I realized that I still get nervous when I’m being evaluated or judged on performance (speeches). I think part of my problem is that I went last. The times I practiced in front of the class, I never got that nervous, but I realized that it was because I never had time to psyche myself out. It was always spur of the moment, not really knowing when exactly I would go. In the case of the evaluation, I knew exactly when I was going, so I started getting some severe stage fright even though I knew I’d do fine. I’ll have to work on that. The writing assignments were fairly fun, all things considered. We have to write to an 8th grade reading level for journalism so we can reach all of our target audience, so it was a great feeling to exercise my full vocabulary again.
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