Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas -- Members of the 12th Flying Training Wing attended a unit-led multi-day leadership conference at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from April 4-6.
Total force senior leadership from the 12th FTW and annual award winners gathered to concentrate on professional and leadership development.
Day one focused on accountable leadership with guest speaker retired Lt. Col. Robert “Cujo” Teschner, emphasizing the importance of the “fighter debrief” in the creation of high-performing teams.
Teschner is a former F-15 and F-22 pilot, a former weapons school instructor and an author. He left the attendees with tools for organizational improvement and a message of empowerment.
“The idea of debriefing is not exclusive to flight operations,” Teschner said. “It’s not just something pilots use after the flight is complete. The power of the ‘Debrief to Win’ approach is that the art of debriefing well is the art of leading effectively.”
Teschner also remarked that the 12th FTW is fertile ground for the ‘Debrief to Win’ approach because the wing is 100% committed to training future air and space leaders who must be able to create learning organizations.
Day two began with a tour of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Multi-Domain Laboratory, or MDL, where Academy Cadets simulate global theater wargaming. Attendees were also given the opportunity to fly the MDL flight simulators as part of the tour.
Master Sgt. Alok Padhi, 479th Student Squadron Senior Enlisted Leader commented on the MDL experience.
“It was fascinating to see how the Multi-Domain Laboratory is helping develop multi-faceted Airmen for future conflicts,” Padhi said. “From an SEL perspective, I think it's extremely valuable to be flexible in changing our approach to future problem sets and the modular technology available at the MDL is a great example of this.”
Later that afternoon, Col. Taylor Ferrell, 12th FTW commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Joseph Stuart, 12th FTW command chief, led the group in a leadership cross-talk and discussed the wing’s goals and priorities. The day concluded with the wing’s annual award ceremony.
The last day of the conference gave enlisted leaders the opportunity to speak with Stuart in a special break-out session to address concerns and ideas impacting the wing.