Photo By Dana Heard | Senior Master Sgt. Anthony Thompson Jr., 55th Force Support Squadron career assistance...... read more read more
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The inaugural Amazing Offutt Scavenger Hunt was held May 6, 2019 at Offutt Air Force Base. The hunt’s conclusion coincides with the end of the first term Airmen’s course, which is an introductory course for new Airmen to the base.
The scavenger hunt is the result of a partnership between the Warhawk Community Center, Professional Development Center, 55th Force Support Squadron Marketing Office, the First Term Airmen Center and other support offices to provide incoming Airmen an interactive way to get acquainted with base services.
FTAC students participate in the scavenger hunt throughout the course and all who finish it by the last day of calss are entered into a raffle for a prize.
The focus of FSS is to enhance combat readiness, retention and morale through programs promoting well-being and quality of life for Offutt personnel, dependents, retirees and Department of Defense civilians.
The idea of the scavenger hunt came when Master Sgt. Heather Baldwin, Community Program and Partnership Office program manager and Airman 1st Class Joshua Connelly, CPPO Apprentice, both of FSS, were discussing ways to increase Airmen participation at the Warhawk Community Center. Connelly contacted other bases to see if they could offer some suggestions and received a few ideas.
What started out as a way of getting Airmen to be more active at the Warhawk, ended up being a way of assisting new personnel in navigating the base.
Once they got approval to proceed, Baldwin and Connelly sat down and discussed the plan with Senior Master Sgt. Anthony Thompson, 55th FSS career assistance advisor, to incorporate the hunt into FTAC.
For example, the FSS commander had her going away party at the base golf course. Since some Airmen had participated in the scavenger hunt, they knew where to go for their commander’s party. Participation at FSS events has gone up since the hunts began. One Airman used the $55 prize she received for winning the scavenger hunt to rent a fishing boat.
Some of the main goals are to get Airmen involved in what the base, and FSS, have to offer to boost morale and to help acquaint them with various base locations.
Another goal, is to ease confusion when it comes to where to go for various in-processing requirements upon being assigned to this base. This is particularly important since many offices were relocated due to flood damage. Some incoming Airmen have had to change their daily duties due to facilities being destroyed by the flood waters.
“These scavenger hunts give Airmen the opportunity to learn about the facilities on the base that they may not have known about,” said Thompson. “It has been enjoyed by every Airman that has participated.”
Since it’s a busy time of year for changing duty stations, participation in the scavenger hunt has been robust with approximately 75 participants so far. Although the prizes are limited to FTAC students, the event has inspired one officer to use it as way of introducing new lieutenants to the base and to what FSS offers.
Baldwin and Connelly hope that moving forward the scavenger hunt will be a permanent part of FTAC. Connelly said, our biggest goal right now is to also incorporate new officers, and expand this into an Air Force-wide program.
“I’d like to give a huge thank you to our leadership for letting us experiment with this program, and to all the agencies and facilities we worked with,” said Baldwin. “I’m also very grateful to (Thompson) for allowing us to have the students participate in the program.”
| Date Taken: | 07.19.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2019 16:46 |
| Story ID: | 341830 |
| Location: | OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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