AF uses unconventional programs to develop leaders

  • Published
  • By Debbie Gildea
  • Air Force Personnel, Services and Manpower Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO - RANDOLPH, Texas --  The Air Force uses various methods to develop Airmen, including one program that exposes future leaders to experiences outside the Air Force norm.

Three Air Force officers can attest to the personal and professional value of that outside experience. Having completed the Advanced Academic Degree and Special Experience Exchange Duty program, they are applying lessons learned.

Lt. Col. Denise "Deno" Cooper, U.S. Air Force Academy Assistant Professor and Deputy of Operations, Department of Management, has seen a lot of change in the Air Force and her own career since her 1993 commission, earned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Once an information officer, she "morphed" into a personnelist and now is a core force support officer.

But, more than that, she is a critical thinker using an AAD/SPEED-garnered Ph.D. to teach Academy cadets how to be transformational leaders. If there is one thing she knows, it is that change is the norm.

Originally from Maine, Cooper completed her doctorate at the University of Texas, San Antonio, in 2007, as part of the Academy program to grow its military faculty. As a doctoral candidate, she discovered that pursuing a Ph.D. comes with challenges and surprises that can be personally transformational.

"Getting a Ph.D. is about learning to create new knowledge and participate in the literature's dialogue," she said. "I was humbled and am profoundly aware of how little I knew outside my own small piece of pie."

In addition to the personal benefits, her works also benefits the Air Force, and will for years to come.

"Thanks to the program, I'm far more aware of the world outside my own bubble, and now I'm passionate about seek alternative explanations and solutions to troubling situations," she said.

As a member of a research team studying the behaviors of transformational leaders, she's gathering data that will help future Air Force leaders develop and implement programs to support national security and improve Air Force processes.

"I feel greater intellectual curiosity and mental flexibility, thanks to the program, and have developed the habit of always asking why things happen," she said.

Fellow Academy instructor Maj. Eric Roehrkasse, Department of History, agrees that the AAD/SPEED program can significantly stretch and grow Airmen. Colorado is old stomping grounds for the Iowa native who graduated from the Academy in 2002, but he was in less familiar territory as a full-time graduate student at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he earned his Master of Arts in Diplomatic History.

Sponsored by the Academy history department for the Academy instructor program, Roehrkasse's background in airfield operations seems unrelated to his new role, but history is integral to every field, he said.

"I find social disciplines, like history, to be more useful to me as an officer because my job is to be a leader first, then a technical expert," the major said. "Studying diplomatic history not only enables me to make a positive impact on Academy students; it also allows me to analyze my military - especially deployment - experiences in context."

As an Academy graduate, Roehrkasse didn't have a typical university experience, so the AAD/SPEED program exposed him that as well. What he learned in that primarily civilian environment further supports concepts critical to understanding and enhancing foreign relations, he explained.

"I learned to value my classmates' differing backgrounds and perspectives, and I learned that even when I don't agree with a viewpoint, I can at least see the basis for someone else's view. It makes common ground easier to find," he said.

However, he advises Airmen who apply for an AAD/SPEED graduate degree to be prepared for a challenge they may not have given any thought.

"You have to be nearly 100 percent self-motivated. Aside from three two-hour classes a week, you have no duty hours, no one to report to, and no office so you need to find a place away from home to study - especially if you have kids," he explained.

Maintaining a military routine and discipline will help students get through the unbounded environment as well, the major said.

"Try to maintain a battle rhythm similar to your operational job in order to do well in your courses. You still need to pass your PT test, so keep going to the gym and take advantage of the fact that you don't have to work around unexpected taskers and other time-consuming activities," he advised.

Pursuing a graduate degree is only one of many AAD/SPEED developmental activities. One Air Force officer opted to apply instead for the Education with Industry program and found himself embedded in the daily operations of the country's most trusted companies (per recent Temkin Group study).

Maj. Daniel Rigsbee, AFPC Total Force Service Center operations officer, in June 2011 completed a year embedded with USAA (military insurance, banking and investments). Commissioned in 2001, the Enon, Ohio native has also experienced ongoing changes in his career, which made adapting to the USAA culture easier.

"I think the biggest surprise was how relaxed the culture was," Rigsbee said. "For example, using first names all the way up the chain of authority was definitely different from the military culture."

It was that culture and focus that enabled Rigsbee to engage in a variety of experiences, though.

"I gained appreciation for how a for profit business operates and acquired education in contact center operations which is not available elsewhere in the Air Force," he said.

EWI also significantly affect is ability to support the AFPC - and Total Force Service Center - mission.

"I was able to see and experience how a world-class business and contact center operates, and was able to directly transfer that experience to my role as the TFSC operations officer," Rigsbee explained.

What would be the best program for Airmen interested in the AAD/SPEED program? Rigsbee, Cooper and Roehrkasse believe each option is beneficial, but officers should choose carefully depending on their strategic career plans.

"EWI is a great program; it provides officers with unique insight into civilian companies," Rigsbee said. "Students can make the most of the EWI experience by being proactive, engaging their civilian company to learn all they can and networking with co-workers."

Whether the Academy instructor program or another academic opportunity, Roehrkasse believes participants will learn valuable leadership skills applicable to their military duties.

"I absolutely recommend full time graduate studies. I was actually digesting the material I studied. Civilian immersion is a good experience for an officer because it exposes you to other perspectives and gives you the opportunity to expose them (civilians) to your perspective," he said.

In addition to growing personally, Cooper is taking the opportunity to pay it forward.

"I have an appreciation for framing an issue with a theoretical lens; the foundation for explaining and predicting why things occur. But, the AAD/SPEED program opened the door to a career at the Academy, where I have the opportunity to mentor and shape future officers and tomorrow's leaders of character," she said. "That is tremendously gratifying."
Interested officers may still be able to submit an application for the 2013 AAD/SPEED program, or can start now to prepare for the 2014 application window, said Angel Espinosa, AFPC Academic and Special Utilization Branch.

In addition to the Academy instructor program and EWI, programs include the Air Force Institute of Technology or Naval Postgraduate School, Spacelift Education and Crossover Program, Space and Missile Acquisition Exchange Program, Acquisition and Intelligence Experience Exchange Tour, Acquisition and Logistics Experience Exchange Tour, Comptroller Operation Logistics Tour, U.S. Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School, Missile Operations and Missile Maintenance Exchange Program and the Information Officer Engineering Exchange.

For more information about this and other developmental opportunities, or other personnel issues, visit the Air Force Personnel Services website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.