SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. Several enlisted and officer engineers met at the height of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia early August to participate in the annual Civil Engineer Project Manager training course. The unique in-person course was hosted by the Air National Guard Deployment for Training (DFT) and Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) programs, with the goal of providing the next group of project managers, site superintendents, and subject matter experts with the knowledge, skills, and tools to ensure mission success across the globe.
The group consisted of Airmen and Soldiers from the Air National Guard, Air Force Reserves, Army National Guard, and the Army Reserves, and represented every corner of the United States and Territories, including Texas, Virginia, Alaska and Puerto Rico. The three-day course included topics on project management, construction schedules, community partner relations, and leadership and mentorship topics. The class concluded by participating in a Capstone table top exercise focused on real world scenarios students could possibly face, including material shortages, leadership dynamics, and medical events. In addition, the class participated in two group hikes that were challenging both physically and mentally.
“We deliberately chose Shenandoah National Park because of its remoteness to help get our future mission leaders in the deployed mindset prior to setting foot on a project site,” said Master Sgt.Brad Wilson, Deputy Program Manager for the Air National Guard’s IRT Program. “Having the opportunity to learn and live together for the week allowed us to focus on the task at hand, which was to educate our future Engineer leaders and set them up for success.”
The IRT and DFT programs offer military units opportunities to deploy to military installations across the globe and to communities across the nation, territories, and sovereign tribal lands to provide long lasting community benefits while gaining critical job skills. The two programs collectively provided training opportunities for over 2,000 ANG Airmen, Soldier, Sailor and Marine engineers across the Department of Defense 2022 and provided over $5 million dollars worth of cost savings to community and military partners.
“This next year, we will construct airmen and mission resiliency focused buildings on military installations including Yokota AB, seven new homes for veterans in the Cherokee Nation, and renovate 20-30 homes alongside the Housing Authority of Blackfeet Nation,” SMSgt David Bigesby, NGB/A4 Civil Engineer Deployments Section Chief said, “I have the utmost confidence in the capabilities, dedication to duty, and passion of this group of leaders to serve our partners over the course of the next year.”
For more information on the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program, please visit https://irt.defense.gov or reach out to MSgt Bradley Wilson at bradley.wilson.4@us.af.mil to participate as a Project Manager, military, or community partner.
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.29.2022 10:49 |
| Story ID: | 428240 |
| Location: | LURAY, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 198 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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