Photo By Monica Wood | (Center) Capt. Kiasha Hamilton, president of Fort Sill ROCKS, Inc., stands with...... read more read more
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Author’s note: Even though today is the last day of Black History Month, ROCKS, Inc. celebrates the spirit of Black History year-round with a mentorship program started by black officers to help other black officers through the benefit of their experience. The program is now all-inclusive and offers the best of ‘helping yourself by helping others.’
FORT SILL, Oklahoma (Feb. 28, 2022) – Have you ever thought ‘I wish I knew then what I know now’?
A newly formed, local group of ROCKS, Inc. is working to put an end to that thought. The organization was formed to provide mentorship, professional development and social interaction to strengthen the officer corps.
“Someone knows now what you do not know,” said Capt. Kiasha Hamilton, assistant S4, 75th Field Artillery Brigade and president of the local chapter of ROCKS, Inc. “Let’s find those people who have the information we require and pass that information to the next person who needs it. Some people want to lead, while others need to be led. Providing that environment here at Fort Sill where both objectives can be met was important to me.”
Hamilton said an environment for two-way mentorship is not a new concept but allowing it to flourish with the ROCKS, Inc. chapter will allow for more well-rounde3d officers and senior civilians at Fort Sill.
“I just got into the mindset of let’s do it; I can do it, the team rallied around and things began to flourish,” she said. “I wanted to provide something to others that I was missing and create a field artillery community of excellence. As leaders, we define how we face situations every day. I identified an area where I personally could have benefitted from early on -- mentorship.”
ROCKS, Inc. is a non-profit organization comprised of active, reserve and retired commissioned officers and warrant officers of the U.S. Armed Forces. ROTC and Military Academy cadets and DoD GS-12 and above civilian counterparts are included in this composition. ROCKS also provides scholarships to cadets, and “Leadership Outreach,” which provides the opportunity for teams of ROCKS members to visit historically black colleges and universities for professional career development guidance to ROTC students.
ROCKS, Inc. was officially founded in 1974, but was initially started in the mid-1960s as informal meetings of black Army officers assigned to the Command and General Staff College. Currently, 18 Army installations have local chapters and five installations – including Fort Sill – have their own interest group nationwide.
Hamilton said mentorship never ends.
“As a Black Female field artillery officer, I am a leader; and I represent the next generation of field artillery leaders. I am also always willing to mentor, to be mentored, or enable networking between mentors and mentees. The wonderful part about ROCKS is the organization is committed to strengthening the Army officer corps and I am happy to be a part of it. There are officers, seniors, peers and subordinates who come to me for mentorship and those I reach out to for continued mentorship both through the group and individually,” said Hamilton.
According to Hamilton, black officers have historically had less access to mentorship than their contemporaries.
“We are changing it at Fort Sill; we are essentially an extension of the command team and we are building a community of excellence. We provide mentorship and camaraderie for permanent and transient personnel,” she said. “If someone has trouble with gunnery or fire support, we have experts on the team. If someone wants to know what to do at Fort Sill, we have those answers too. We will utilize timing, strategic aligning and dedication to ensure we are here for anyone who needs mentorship.”
The group meets two times a month, formally and informally. They occasionally meet three to four times a month if there are extracurricular activities or initiatives occurring in that month.
“Formal meetings are held on post in the duty uniform. This allows us to be able to identify rank, name and unit just by seeing one another in uniform,” she said. “Formal meetings are very structured and typically held to one hour. We have set topics and guest speakers at these meetings. Formal meetings allow for a learning environment in garrison and strengthen the bonds of the individuals in uniform. This also allows for field grade officers to be easily identified for additional conversation and mentorship after the meeting.”
Hamilton said informal meetings are held off post in appropriate civilian attire, typically at different locations around town.
“Although informal meetings are less structured, we do have a set topic. This is more dialogue driven, and allows for officers to feel more relaxed, share their experiences and receive or give input,” she said. “These meetings are expected to run typically an hour and a half but have always gone to as many as three or four hours due to so much engagement and mentorship occurring.”
The group also has extracurricular activities or initiatives where they come together to build a ‘community of excellence’ by engaging with the community outside of Fort Sill.
“We also build a ‘community of excellence’ within our group by participating in events such as the Buffalo Soldier Black History Month 3-Mile Walk/Run; and based on individuals’ interests, we plan group hikes, family days and other outings,” she said.
Upcoming initiatives include blood drives, food drives, tutoring and volunteering at outside organizations.
For more information on ROCKS, Inc., call Hamilton at 504-388-2405.
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2022 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 415441 |
| Location: | FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 515 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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