MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. - A year after successfully launching the satellite Noncommissioned Officer Academy, the 184th Intelligence Wing has created a model for the Airman Leadership School scheduled to open in 2015.
The satellite Noncommissioned Officer Academy, or NCOA, has held two classes since it was organized in March 2013.
The NCOA opened up opportunities for Airmen interested in experiencing an in-residence professional military education, or PME, but may have had circumstances that didn’t allow them to leave home for six weeks.
“The students get the full, in-residence experience with the convenience of being at home,” said Master Sgt. Stacy Harvey, lead site facilitator.
The classes met two evenings a week for 13 weeks. Each class included every aspect of an in-residence school including classroom instruction, open ranks inspections and professional accountability.
“We have to treat the students like they’re in-residence,” said Harvey. “The students are expected to be on time, have outstanding uniforms and adhere to military customs and courtesies at all times.”
While the students were in class, they viewed briefings and interacted with instructors via satellite television. They also communicated with other classes from all over the United States.
Group discussions and break-out sessions were held in the classroom without satellite communication.
The course also had a fitness program called human performance. Human performance provides a full-body workout while focusing on proper form rather than speed and intensity.
“Human performance isn’t your typical Air Force PT,” said Tech. Sgt. Chris Schulte, site administrator.
Exercises performed during the workout include the basics like running, squats, lunges and pushups, as well as butterfly situps, mountain climbers, squat thrusts and burpees.
“The exercises we do at home station are the exact movements they will do at McGhee-Tyson,” said Harvey. “When they get to the in-residence portion, it’s expected that the students know how to do the warm up and cool down sequence without guidance.”
Once the 13-week training was complete, the students attended another two-week course at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tenn., prior to graduation. The graduates earned the same honors as those who attended a traditional, in-residence PME, including a certificate of training and the PME ribbon.
Schulte, one of the course’s biggest advocates, said the main selling point for him was the fact that it empowers Airmen with training options.
“It gives Airmen one more option for getting PME accomplished,” said Schulte, “and it’s a good way to network and meet people from around the wing.”
Not only is it another option, but the satellite course offers more openings. On average, the wing is allocated six slots per year for off-site, in-residence NCOA. The satellite course offers a minimum of eight openings per class and tops out at 14, allowing the wing to potentially train 28 students per year.
In addition to training opportunities for students, the satellite course offers a chance for PME graduates to serve as facilitators.
A satellite PME facilitator isn’t the same as an instructor. A facilitator provides the link between the student and the instructor. Throughout the course, they lead classroom sessions, mentor students and maintain class discipline.
Facilitators are required to meet high standards of professionalism.
Those interested in serving as a facilitator must submit an application package, which is vetted locally and then sent to the Air National Guard Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base. They must also interview for the position.
“It’s a competitive process,” said Harvey.
Applicants are required to have an associate’s degree or higher, a passing physical fitness score without exemptions and must embody the wing’s goals.
“You really need to want to mentor Airmen,” said Harvey.
If selected, the applicant will attend the instructor certification program. They can only facilitate up to the highest level of in-residence PME from which they’ve graduated. For example, a graduate of ALS can facilitate ALS, but not NCOA. A graduate of NCOA can facilitate both courses. However, an Airman who completed correspondence courses isn’t eligible to facilitate the satellite class.
Currently, the 184th IW has seven facilitators.
As always, cost reduction is on the forefront of many Air National Guard programs. According to the base education and training office, the Guard spends an average of $2,800 per student by enrolling them into an off-site NCOA. Satellite PME may help alleviate some of those expenses.
“Satellite PME has become highly visible,” said Harvey. “It will be the way of the future.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.03.2014 14:40 |
| Story ID: | 128627 |
| Location: | MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Enlisted professional military education expands opportunities, by MSgt Matthew Mccoy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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