Photo By Angela Wallace | The Equal Opportunity Leadership Course, led by Mr. Calvin Colin, equal opportunity...... read more read more
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PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Staff Sgt. Michael Castrodes, assigned to 203rd Trans. Co., 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, located in Arden Hills, Minnesota, stood before a circle of his peers to present his values, beliefs, and personal characteristics during a practical exercise for the Equal Opportunity Leadership Course held at Army Reserve Medical Command’s headquarters in Pinellas Park, Florida on 2-8 Apr.
During this practical exercise, each student must present their ‘Badge’ to peers which includes images and words that reflect their self-identified values and beliefs, and then they are required to answer questions the group has on reasons the individual sees themselves a certain way based on what they chose to place on their badge. The exercise draws emotions for everyone participating, as well as self-reflection, while individuals disclose how their environments have shaped that individual standing before the group.
“The most surprising thing about this course is how open everyone has been. The facilitators have made it clear we need to be open, be clear, be raw; so I think that has helped everyone to communicate how they truly feel about things, which improves on what we are all thinking and the perceptions we might have,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Nicholas Humphrey, a student attending the course who is assigned as a squadron equal opportunity leader at Joint Communication Support Element located on MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
Sgt. Maj. Marites Cabreza, equal opportunity advisor for Northeast Medical Area Readiness Support Group, one of several facilitators for the course, explains how important the Badge exercise is for setting the tone for developing individuals throughout the course.
“There is so much about an individual that is not really exposed until you bring it to the group. Once someone is inside that group, and they start asking them personal questions about their badge, the individual begins to open up with everyone. It’s an exercise in discovering and unloading what they have inside of them, while sharing with others who have similar experiences. This helps all of them to recognize they are not alone. I think this is one of the best activities we do with this course,” said Cabreza.
The Equal Opportunity Leadership Course, led by Mr. Calvin Colin, equal opportunity program manager for ARMEDCOM, maintains a curriculum that exceeds current Army standards for the course. While providing students the tools necessary to be change agents for their organizations, the course may serve as its own change agent in the near future for the U.S. Army Reserve and potentially for the whole Army.
“We were recently recognized by the U.S. Army Reserve Command equal opportunity sergeant major as having the best Equal Opportunity Leader Course he has seen. I believe the difference for our course is that our facilitators work together, devoting countless hours - not planning a course, but planning a life changing event. This curriculum develops the totality of an individual in the many roles they will play for their unit,” said Colin.
Colin and his facilitators have also opened up the course to other branches of service. “We are the only equal opportunity course outside Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute that trains all branches of service. Service members hear about our class from other graduates, and their commanders authorize them to attend our course,” said Colin.
Though the course is open to all services, the instructors agreed that being an equal opportunity leader is not for everyone.
“At the end of the day, doing this work is a decision each individual has to make. Someone in their unit, likely their commander, saw enough in them to determine that [equal opportunity] is something the Soldier would be a good fit for in support of their fellow Soldiers. It has to be the Soldier’s commitment to do this work,” said Master Sgt. Danyell Kelley, an EOLC facilitator and Equal Opportunity Advisor for U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command.
Colin echoed Kelley’s position. “You have to be a people person to be a part of this team. You have to genuinely care about people and be authentic. I look for people who are real, people who are relevant and people who are raw that can share their stories openly, because this is about more than attending a class. This is about impacting people’s lives,” said Colin.
The facilitators stated that the success of the new equal opportunity leaders expands beyond their personal passion for their work. In order to succeed, they must present solutions for their unit and have their leadership’s support and buy-in, because equal opportunity is a commander’s program.
“To tie this to Lt. Gen. Luckey’s mindset on readiness, one of the things that we push is the idea that what impacts Soldiers, impacts readiness. It’s important to connect equal opportunity to the Commanding General of the Army Reserve’s intent. Commanders have to realize that if they don’t address the concerns of their Soldiers, they will never improve the readiness within their organization,” said Kelley.
Mr. Julio Pagan, a course facilitator and equal opportunity program manager for the 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, agreed. “Having passion for this work isn’t just about taking down discriminatory complaints. It’s about promoting a positive, healthy command climate, free from hostility and free from discrimination. Most of the complaints we receive are not discriminatory in nature. Most of them are everything else. Leadership issues, disciplinary issues… and we provide them the toolkit at this course so that they can go out there and be effective equal opportunity leaders,” concluded Pagan.
Writer’s Note: Special thanks to the following course facilitators who assisted in providing background to this finished product:
Mr. Calvin Colin, EO Program Manager, ARMEDCOM; Sgt. 1st Class Darryl Tompkins, Equal Opportunity Advisor, ARMEDCOM; Master Sgt. Danyell Kelley, EO Advisor, USACAPOC; Mr. Julio Pagan, EO Program Manager, 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command; Sgt. Maj. Marites Cabreza, Equal Opportunity Advisor, Northeast MARSG; Sgt. 1st Class Taylor Westerberg, EO Advisor for 644th Regional Support Group, 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command; Sgt. 1st Class Gertrude Nino, Equal Opportunity Advisor, Western MARSG; Ms. Daphney Cole Smith, EO Program Manager, 412th Theater Eng. Cmd.; and Staff Sgt. Kelvin Squires, Equal Opportunity Leader for 7222nd Medical Support Unit, ARMEDCOM.
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.11.2017 17:29 |
| Story ID: | 230057 |
| Location: | PINELLAS PARK, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 361 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Newest graduates are change agents; critical tool for readiness, by Angela Wallace, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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