JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The 37th Training Wing will mark the first year of the
innovative program entitled Airmen’s Week March 25 at Joint Base San
Antonio-Lackland.
Airmen’s Week is a five-day course that helps Airmen better
prepare for technical training school and beyond. The strategic curriculum further
develops professional, resilient Airmen who are inspired by heritage, committed
to the service’s core values and motivated to deliver airpower, according to
Kevin Adelsen, Air Education and Training Command Airmen’s Week Program
Manager.
Since its inception, instructors, course developers, and
most importantly, Airmen, have noted the positive impacts the program has had
thus far.
“We are getting them to think more deeply about Air Force
core values, about what it means to be a member of the profession of arms and
we have over an 89 percent approval rate from the Airmen that have been through
Airmen’s Week,” said Adelsen. “From a qualitative, anecdotal standpoint it is a
resounding success.”
The concept of Airmen’s Week stemmed from Air Force
officials, including Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody, and
members of the 737th Training Group, evaluating the former eight-and-a-half
week BMT program and assessing how to further enhance Airmanship skills and
emphasize a long-standing commitment to core values and morality.
“We’re trying to get into our Airmen’s hearts and into their
minds earlier, and really develop the right culture, and what it really means
to be an Airman serving their nation,” said Chief Master Sgt. David Staton,
AETC command chief.
Although the program has undergone changes since its launch,
the goal of Airmen’s Week remains constant with curriculum focused exclusively
on wingmanship, resiliency, leadership and followership, sexual assault
prevention and response, the warrior ethos, and how Airmen can balance their
personal and professional lives.
While the instruction of Airmen’s Week is curriculum based,
a concept called active mentorship is also applied, which requires the
instructors to engage with the Airmen to figure out what they want to know
about the Air Force instead of waiting to be asked. By displaying the
transparency to share both successes and failures, instructors can provide both
relatable and ethical advice to Airmen as they begin their careers.
“Active mentorship is the idea that you don’t passively wait
for an Airman to seek out guidance and advice,” said Lt. Col. Meghan Doherty,
326th Training Squadron and Airmen’s Week commander. “You seek out the Airman
to give them what they need and ask them what they want. You use your
experience to help an Airman find their path in the Air Force.”
For the students, Airmen’s Week is proving to have added
great value to the transition from civilians to Airmen. Airman 1st Class Brianna
Smith, 20th Intelligence Squadron geospatial intelligence analyst at Offutt Air
Force Base, Nebraska, was one of the first Airmen to complete Airmen’s Week and
believes the course will have a positive and lasting effect on her career and
personal life.
“For me personally, when I think back on my experience,
absolutely one hundred percent, it was worth it,” Smith said. “I took a lot
from Airmen’s Week and I was very, very lucky to walk away with an extremely
unique and valuable experience.”
The qualitative data from Airmen combined with quantitative
data from the Air Force’s technical training schools will provide an even more
accurate measure of where Airmen’s Week is today. Facilitators will process the information
they’re given and determine the direction needed in order to continue
developing and producing quality Airmen.
Airmen's Week has proven to be a solid foundation for a
continuum of development unique to an Airman's age, skill set and experience,
and approximately 33,000 Airmen have benefited from the program.
"One year ago, we implemented Airmen's Week in an
effort to help fundamentally shape the character of the Airmen serving in our
United States Air Force,” Brig. Gen Trent Edwards, commander of the 37th
Training Wing, said. The 37th
Training Wing encompasses BMT and more than 70% of all Air Force technical
training courses.
“During the last year, over 31,000 Airmen have transitioned
through Airmen's Week and today I am proud to state that we have successfully
produced more professional, resilient Airmen, inspired by our heritage,
committed to the Air Force core values and motivated to deliver airpower for
America,” Edwards said. “I couldn't be
more proud of my 737th Training Group team and our partnership with AETC’s Profession of Arms Center of Excellence. I am excited to serve alongside these Airmen
and optimistic about where they will take us in the future."