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Attending basic military training can be an intense experience, pushing a person’s mental, physical and spiritual limits. Knowing what to expect can help future Airmen cope with those challenges.
Master Sgt. Chasity Roush, 403rdWing Development and Training Flight Chief, helps newly recruited Air Force Reserve enlistees prepare for life at BMT. Unique to the Reserve world, this program is specifically designed to prepare new recruits for the rigors of basic training as well as ensure that they remain within military standards during their time in the delayed enlistment program.
“I like to call it a BMT prep course. We try to prepare our newly gained trainees that are going to basic training,” said Roush. “The intention of the program is to help with retention at BMT and technical school and it will present better Airmen coming back. If you go better prepared, you can obtain more information while you’re there, versus just trying to survive.”
Funded by the Air Force Reserve Command, participation in the development and training program is mandatory for all new enlistees. The curriculum can vary depending on current events and what is happening within the wing. With varying ages, background experience and skills, as well as length of time in the DEP program, Roush said coordinating and planning lessons can sometimes be a challenge.
“Some of it’s very repetitive, and we cover some material every unit training assembly weekend. This includes dress and personal appearance, what’s professional and what’s not professional, unprofessional relationships, reporting statements, and how you communicate,” she explained. “We basically go over the rules, and I always do team development and life skills.”
Lessons can run the gamut from how to balance a checkbook, iron and cook to stress management and Air Force culture and history.
“We try to teach them everything we can cram into a UTA, for however long those individuals are here, everywhere from financial responsibilities to uniform wearing to chain of command and job information,” Roush said. “The reality is we are all different, so we take the strengths and weaknesses and work together.”
Additionally, trainees are expected to participate in physical fitness tests, random drug testing and immunizations as well as in all the big wing events such as changes of command and commander calls for exposure to military life. Trainees are also organized to reflect the responsibilities and designations they will encounter in basic training and technical school. Trainees have element leaders and those in leadership positions wear colored shirts to mimic technical school rope leaders.
As flight chief, Roush has a lot of flexibility over the course content, but the program has evolved and expanded from where it started seven years ago and now every Reserve wing has a D&TF program.
During the January UTA, there were 55 enlistees participating in the D&TF program. The feedback Roush receives from prior students is overwhelmingly positive and the current attendees are embracing the lessons and structure the course provides.
Serving on his fourth UTA weekend, element leader Cody Nihart said the program is a good stepping stone for BMT and his long-term Air Force plans.
“I have goals for NASA and this is helping provide discipline and helping me get into a good mind-set,” he said. Nihart is scheduled to attend BMT in February; he will return to the 403rd as an aircraft electrical and environmental systems technician.
Because much of the class is spent on being prepared and learning life skills, Roush said class discussions and topics can sometimes veer toward sensitive issues such as personal hygiene or finances.
“I try to incorporate these topics in a very neutral, non-demeaning, non-degrading forum. A lot of what I do is off the cuff and is circumstantial depending on what is going on with the wing, what’s going on in the world and what’s going on with the students individually,” she explained.
For Roush, the opportunity to serve as D&TF flight chief came at the perfect time in her career. Previously the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron aviation resource management superintendent, Roush voluntarily took a leave of absence and a demotion to be an instructor.
“I think in a person’s career, when you hit the 20 year mark, sometimes fresh and new is good to rejuvenate because sometimes you get stagnant,” she said. “Truthfully one of the things I loved most about my job was teaching. I loved to train and some of the most positive feedback I got from people in my career field was that I missed a calling to be a teacher. So there was an opportunity and a want from me to do something different. The rank of it didn’t really matter to be honest.”
Working as an instructor and watching the trainees begin to form relationships with their future colleagues is something Roush has found both personally and professionally rewarding.
“I really enjoy what I am doing. It’s career broadening. It’s like a breath of fresh air sometimes,” she said.
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2019 11:59 |
| Story ID: | 320059 |
| Location: | KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 11 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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