Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th

(e.g. yourname@email.com)

Forgot Password?

    Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Logo

    173 FW Command Chief: ‘Many parallels between Jiu Jitsu and Airmanship’

    173rd FW Command Chief: ‘Jiu Jitsu is a lot like developing Airmen’

    Photo By Master Sgt. Jefferson Thompson | U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Dominic Ingle, the 173rd Fighter Wing command chief,...... read more read more

    KLAMATH FALLS, ORE., OR, UNITED STATES

    07.09.2019

    Story by Tech. Sgt. Jefferson Thompson 

    173rd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

    Five a.m. most weekday mornings finds Chief Master Sgt. Dominic Ingle, the 173rd Fighter Wing Command Chief, at Mountain Warrior Academy in Klamath Falls, Oregon, training in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

    He says it’s an excellent workout both for the body and the brain.

    “Every time I roll it’s a new puzzle, each person you compete against brings a different dynamic and a different skill set and they are going to present you a problem that you are going to have to solve,” said Ingle. “Not only is it a physical challenge but you have that mental puzzle as well.”

    Beyond the workout and the skill there are other reasons he enjoys it, such as developing people who are newer to the sport.

    “What’s really cool about all this is once you do start progressing and you become a blue belt or higher, they give you the chance to train others; so all of that good stuff that someone gave to you, you get to return the favor,” said Ingle.

    And that relates more closely to being a command chief than one might guess.

    “To me it very much resembles developing Airmen,” said Ingle. “You can watch someone actually grow and develop skills with the ultimate goal of them becoming your opponent; I’m trying to build my opponent and then eventually I’m going to leave and this person is going to take over for me and train the next folks. It’s very similar to what we do in the military in terms of what we do to develop each other.”

    Developing Airmen is a priority for Ingle—he calls it Airmanship.

    “Do you really appreciate what you are doing, are you really vested in what our cause is? Make no mistake we are part of the Nation’s sword and we’ve got to stay sharp,” says Ingle. “You have to be committed to this uniform, you have to be vested in who we are and what we do.”

    He goes on to say that developing Airmen has several sides and that the “technical and tactical” side of Kingsley Airman is exceptional, and that one way to develop Airmanship is for his NCO corps to pass that along to their subordinates. Specifically, he’s asking them to foster that same competence in the younger, newer members of the force.

    “I’m charging each chief, each senior, each master and each tech to sit down with those folks who are in the span of their control and develop something very specific,” he says. He goes on to challenge all supervisors to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and design a training path accordingly.

    The Jiu Jitsu model he mentioned earlier takes shape here—work to elevate the skill-level of a subordinate, ensure they can step into your shoes when it’s time for you to move on—and in the meantime, you sharpen your own leadership, learn to care for your people, demonstrate your own commitment to the mission, and pass along a culture that has made the 173rd Fighter Wing successful. In short, develop Airmanship—yours and theirs.

    Ingle says he wants training plans that focus on making a person better at doing their immediate responsibilities.

    “I want them to be developed for that specific area—if I’ve got an area that requires public speaking I ought to focus on that rather than…defense support for civil authorities, something that’s relevant to that Airman at that time—make it and tailor it to each Airmen so that they are more inclined to pick that rope up and pull,” he says referencing their contribution to the mission.

    He sums up his top three priorities, “Building that next generation of Airmen while passing on our legacy and our heritage, providing development opportunities that are tailored for every Airman, and then giving that honest feedback on a continual basis, those are my top three!” he says.

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.09.2019
    Date Posted: 07.10.2019 18:08
    Story ID: 330823
    Location: KLAMATH FALLS, ORE., OR, US

    Web Views: 99
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN