Photo By Andria Allmond | Chief Master Sgt. James W. Hotaling, command chief of the Air National Guard,...... read more read more
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MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE-GUNTER ANNEX, Ala. -- The Air National Guard’s command chiefs held their Command Chiefs Huddle here, April 18-19.
Chief Master Sgt. James W. Hotaling, command chief of the Air National Guard, hosted the two-day event themed, Airmen of Character, Culture by Design, to discuss the current issues, challenges and successes of the ANG.
“We bring in all the command chiefs within the Air National Guard together for this,” said Senior Master Sgt. Adrianne Schulz, executive assistant to the command chief of the Air National Guard. “And what we mean by our theme [for this year’s huddle] is that in our Air National Guard, because of our different statuses and our diversity, we have amazing Airmen of amazing character.
"‘Culture by Design’ [means] we’re not the same Guard that we used to be. The new policies and procedures that are coming out for total force have made it necessary for the Air National Guard to grow and implement new policies to make sure that we are competitive in the future.”
Composed of the 153 ANG command chiefs, the goal of the huddle is for attendees to return to their units with the tools to implement strategies for progress of the enlisted corps.
“The huddle is a unique Air National Guard name,” said Hotaling. “And just like the term is used in football, it’s when a bunch of people gather around and start talking.”
Hotaling said that it’s important for the command chiefs to meet in order to discuss pressing topics and ensure they understand the impact of the ANG from a senior leader’s perspective.
Some of the subjects brought up during the huddle included changes in professional military education.
“We have two big changes in professional military education,” said Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Thomas from the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education here. “One that has already been implemented is the Airman Leadership School distance learning course; and in that we added a group discussion tool in the successful learning lesson.”
Thomas said this allows Airmen to get together during a unit training assembly and form small cohorts to discuss the questions that focus on institutional competencies, which are required to complete the course successfully.
Another hot topic was how Air Guardsmen will function in the atmosphere of total force integration.
“It’s a competitive environment for the enlisted,” said the Special Assistant for Total Force Enlisted Issues, Total Force Continuum (TF-C), Chief Master Sgt. Lorraine Regan. “We need to develop our Airmen or we’ll be at a disadvantage.”
Regan continued by stating that the ANG should remain cognizant that TF-C is about, “integration, not assimilation.”
In addition to being a platform for discussion and information sharing, the event also served to inspire.
“Everybody in the Air National Guard needs to be inspired, inspired by the fact that they represent only .7 percent of the general population of America that defends our nation both home and abroad every single day,” said Hotaling. “They should be inspired by knowing they are part of the world’s greatest Air Force. The world’s greatest Air Force comprised of active duty, the Reserve and the Guard is unstoppable and they are part of it.”
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2016 07:49 |
| Story ID: | 195877 |
| Location: | MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 186 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, ANG command chiefs huddle for enlisted corps development, by Andria Allmond, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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