Mastering military training

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Alvin Morris, 336th Training Squadron military training leader, conducts a professional development brief inside the Levitow Training Support Facility at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, Feb. 25, 2021. The Master Military Training Leader Program, created at Keesler, was designed to distinguish the military training leaders who have mastered the demonstration, evaluation and reinforcement of military standards; exude military bearing and discipline while scheduling and conducting military training; and are key leaders among Airmen and their peers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Building blocks of cyberspace

U.S. Air Force Airman Thatcher LaPrise, 338th Training Squadron student, practices connecting a phone to a network in Bryan Hall at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, on Jan. 26, 2021. The 338th TRS has been working towards a modular curriculum, which enables students to receive the training tailored to their future assignment, for approximately five years. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kimberly L. Mueller)

Dragon medics prepare to support national COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Members of the 81st Medical Group completes inprocessing paper work for deploying inside the Bay Breeze Event Center at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, Feb. 16, 2021. More than 150 Dragon Medics were preparing to deploy to support our nation's COVID-19 vaccine inoculations requirements. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)

Conversations cultivating culture

Published April 23, 2021
By Senior Airman Kimberly L. Mueller
81st Training Wing Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.-- Airmanship is learned by every Airman at different stages in their career to help build the culture the Air Force strives for.

“We need Airmen to understand how to identify themselves with the military and make appropriate decisions,” said Master Sgt. Kristen Jordan, Second Air Force military training leader functional manager. “In Basic Military Training, Airmen complete Airmanship 100 and in their First Term Airman’s Course at their first duty station they get Airmanship 300 with no in between, so that’s where Airmanship 200 comes in.”

Airmanship 200 is a stair-step approach to cultural development geared towards Airmen learning initial career skills at technical training.

“When Airmanship 200 was first implemented there was the question ‘How do we train this and make sure Airmen are understanding?’” said Jordan. “When the training was developed there were four of the 25 sections of Airmanship 200 training that were mandatory.”

There are currently five mandatory core sections: respect, identity, ownership, self-discipline and decision making. Due to the lengths of different career field technical trainings, a few lessons needed to be prioritized before Airmen reach their first duty location.

“Airmanship 200 is not a slideshow presentation,” said Jordan. “Military training leaders facilitate these guided discussions during an Airman’s in-processing to initial skills training, so we know we’re teaching these cultural development tools to every Airman coming through to develop the characteristics we are trying to instill.”

These guided discussions aim to get Airmen to talk to each other and to help them understand they all come from different walks of life.

“If we can get Airmen to have those conversations with each other, not just in a facilitated environment, that's where we breed culture in the best way we have ever seen,” said Jordan. “We all get so bogged down with our key duties, additional duties, education, training or development within our career fields, and sometimes we lose our way of what it means to be an Airman, but Airmanship at every level helps us to keep us developing and connected to the Air Force mission.”