Photo By Airman 1st Class Cody Mott | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Joseph Cyr, 100th Operations Support Squadron Aircrew...... read more read more
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ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England – Earlier this year, U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Joseph “Joey” Cyr, 100th Operations Support Squadron Aircrew Flight Equipment superintendent, attended the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy through the Sister Service Enlisted Professional Military Education Course (SSPMEC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island.
Growing up in Newport, five minutes from where the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy holds a seven-week course to refine senior enlisted members into sharper, more knowledgeable, and more capable leaders, this was not Cyr’s first time interacting with the academy or its students.
As a young man, he worked at a t-shirt printing company that happened to print shirts for each class attending the academy course. Already with aspirations of joining the Air Force, Cyr noticed an order from one of the new classes that included a shirt with an emblem that was not a naval enlisted rank.
“I spoke with my boss and mentioned I’d never seen this rank before and thought it was an Air Force emblem,” said Cyr. “My boss said, ‘Yeah, the master sergeant is coming in to pick them up if you want to talk with him.’ So, I did. I started speaking with him about the aspirations I had and mentioned I didn’t realize the Air Force could attend the naval academy nearby, and he said, ‘We put out open seats for it. If you get lucky and you’re good enough, you can come to the course.’ I thought to myself, ‘That would be awesome - if I could come full circle.”
Cyr enlisted, left home and was first stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, in 2010. Over his 14 years of service, he traveled around the globe and eventually found himself back at RAF Mildenhall with the Bloody Hundredth today.
“I told my commander that attending the course in Newport was still one of my top three goals, so I put in a package that went to U.S. Air Forces in Europe for [the wing’s] nomination, and ended up getting to go!” said Cyr. “It was the best time I’ve had in my entire military career.”
This professional course goes beyond traditional military education, offering a unique opportunity to understand different service cultures, operational methods, and leadership philosophies. For Airmen, learning side by side with their sister service members and allied nation counterparts promotes a deeper appreciation for the roles and missions of each individual entity. This understanding is crucial for joint operations, where seamless communication and the ability to anticipate the needs and responses of fellow service members can be the difference between mission success and failure.
“To me, this was also a chance at going home to Rhode Island. My family and friends have only seen ‘Joey, the young college kid and baseball player.’ They’ve never seen Master Sgt. Cyr,” he said. “I told them I was coming back for a professional course to develop my leadership skills and show them that the military has turned me into the man I am today. Without all these courses and lessons I’ve been learning, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
This PME course introduced senior enlisted members to a range of leadership approaches that are specific to each branch’s unique culture and challenges. For the Air Force, this exposure to different training methods, organizational priorities, and leadership styles brings valuable insights back to their units. Cyr’s journey at the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy allowed him to learn how the Navy emphasizes traditions of mentorship and sailor-to-sailor development differently from the Air Force.
“There was a leadership lesson that became a complex breakdown for each of us, giving us the chance to see everyone's strengths and weaknesses on the team,” said Cyr. “We were given tools that showed us how to capitalize on them. It was a way to fine-tune my leadership skills and eventually bring them back here to my unit.”
Cyr’s time at the academy highlighted the importance of building strong, enduring relationships across services. He witnessed firsthand how sharing experiences and exchanging ideas with leaders from other branches broadened his perspective and deepened his understanding of the U.S. military’s interconnectedness. He said it also emphasized that while each service may have its own unique way of doing things, the ultimate goal remains the same: working efficiently and effectively to protect and defend the nation.
The SSEPMEC fosters a more cohesive and interoperable military force by providing leaders with a broadened perspective and a deeper understanding of joint operations. It is not just about learning new techniques or strategies. It’s about embracing a mindset that values diverse experiences and actively seeks out opportunities for collaboration. For Cyr, and many other senior enlisted members, this academy course was a pivotal step in a lifelong journey of service, growth, and development.
“It was nice to see the variety of people we had in our class and all of the different mindsets,” he said. “We had the U.S. Navy, Marines, and Air Force, along with Korean and German service members. Luckily, my flight nominated me to be a flight leader, and gave me the opportunity to lead my team and test my leadership skills.”
Such insights are crucial in shaping adaptive leaders who can manage diverse teams and work effectively in joint environments. This cross-pollination of ideas helps leaders refine their strategies, draw from a broader toolkit of leadership techniques, and ultimately make better decisions, and better servicemembers.
“Because of the leaders and the conversations we had in the room, I felt I had refound my purpose again,” he said.
As Cyr’s story illustrates, this course is more than just a professional milestone; it is an ongoing commitment to the principles of joint service and shared mission success. Through programs like this, the U.S. military continues to cultivate leaders who are not only experts in their own service but also men and women who can champion a unified outlook across all branches.
“As a team leader, I was asked if I thought education for enlisted members was important,” he said. “I said we always have up-and-coming Airmen with masters and doctorate degrees and an abundance of life experience. As a senior enlisted leader, I’m someone who has to lead those Airmen and mentor young company grade officers. So I need to remain sharp, and these kinds of courses provide the skill and experience to help.”
Master Sgt. Joseph Cyr graduated as an honorary chief petty officer with class 276, Green Horizon, accomplishing his goals, honing his leadership, and remaining open to the idea that there’s room for expected failure. He explained that the leaders reminded him that as we learn from failure, we find truth.
“They replanted the idea that we, as military members, are role models. We are what ‘right’ looks like. We are ambassadors, and people look up to us,” said Cyr. “With that knowledge, I’m creating an environment with room to fail, but I will not let my Airmen become failures.”
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.04.2024 05:54 |
| Story ID: | 484574 |
| Location: | RAF MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK, GB |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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