New professional development effort prepares Airmen to ‘SOAR’

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DE, UNITED STATES

12.08.2020

Story by Airman 1st Class Stephani Barge 

436th Airlift Wing

Dover Air Force Base launched Eagle SOAR-EDU, an innovative professional development platform and resource hub for all Dover military and civilian personnel Oct. 22, 2020.

Eagles SOAR-EDU stands for Eagles Shaping Our Airmen’s Readiness through Education, Development and Utilization.

“Eagles SOAR is a two-pronged project,” said Chief Master Sgt. Tina Gilson, 436th Operations Group superintendent and one of the project’s founders. “You can call it a professional development platform, but it also serves as a resource hub, which provides an easy-access, one-stop shop that shows everything going on at the base and synchronizes it.”

Eagle SOAR started as a SharePoint website for the 436th Operations Group in January of 2020 and, with help from 15 of the group’s Senior Noncommissioned Officers, the concept quickly shifted into a base-wide platform.

“The vision behind the platform is to hone in on the Air Force’s number-one and number-four priorities, which are restoring readiness and developing exceptional leaders,” said Gilson. “With this platform, we are highlighting this information, making it easier to access. We’re taking what we’re already doing and we’re surveying and asking folks what they want to see; that data will also show us the areas that we could improve on.”

The platform was also inspired by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown’s written initiative, “accelerate change or lose,” which calls for skilled, adaptable and multi-capable Airmen.

“Eagles SOAR will help target training that makes our Airmen more multi-capable by finding ways to expand their skills and capabilities, making them more dynamic and usable throughout the force,” said Gilson.

An all-day event on Oct. 22 kicked off the platform’s launch. To offer maximum availability to Airmen, a variety of professional development classes were held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“The kick-off event was our push to let the base know what we are doing and that this innovative approach to professional development is a viable venue that they can take advantage of,” said Chaplain (Capt.) Jonathan Dawson, 436th Airlift Wing chaplain and class instructor. “We are hopeful that it will continue to be an ongoing opportunity for Airmen to develop and grow in different areas and aspects of their lives.”

Eagles SOAR-EDU offers a plethora of information and resources that can assist Airmen in reaching their personal development and career goals.
“We have three focus areas: military, readiness and leadership. Generally speaking, any information would fall within those three categories,” said Gilson. “So, whatever they’re looking for, they can go into the resource hub and find reading lists or related classes going on at the base.”

Dawson believes the platform will benefit class instructors as well. “Being a good listener and contributor is a skill that needs to be developed,” said Dawson. “Being a good presenter and trainer is another skill that takes time and effort to develop. These are just two examples of ways that this initiative is going to help develop multi-capable Airmen.”

Gilson anticipates the platform will become a useful tool during evaluations and feedback sessions.

“This can be a quantitative tool that provides supervisors a way to set expectations in their feedback with Airmen,” said Gilson. “Asking an Airman to take three SOAR classes, for example, gives supervisors a way to solidify and quantify their expectations.”

According to Gilson, Eagles SOAR-EDU also offers an opportunity to provide more recognition to those who take their professional development seriously.

“Another idea we have is to build a tracking mechanism to document Eagles SOAR class credits,” said Gilson. “At the end of the quarter or year, a tracking report would be created to see how many credits Airmen have received for attending classes, which would get shared with leadership, who would then present top Eagles with a certificate of recognition for achieving a milestone of self-improvement and getting after the Air Force priorities.”

Eagles SOAR-EDU is now active on SharePoint and will continue to grow and evolve along with the Airmen who utilize the platform.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to have a non-required venue for learning and development,” said Dawson. “Airmen are there because they want to be there — that makes for an ideal learning environment where all Airmen can develop and grow.”

• Date Taken: 12.08.2020
• Date Posted: 12.08.2020 17:12
• Story ID: 384500
• Location: DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DE, US