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One of the biggest challenges in the Air Force is the transition from Airmen into the NCO tier. COVID-19 restrictions added another challenge to the Airmen’s transition are stopping them from completing course in-person.
Determined to train the future leaders he Kisling Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Kapaun Air Station, Germany opened their virtual doors for the first online class in Europe, June 15, 2020.
To get here, academy staff devoted three months into professional development training, tailoring the curriculum to an online format while staying true to the Kisling NCOA mission to educate, motivate, cultivate, and inspire enlisted Airmen throughout U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.
“We covered the entire curriculum together as a team,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Conniff, NCOA instructor, as he prepared for the 150-student class. “We created numerous project teams to hyper-focus on areas of concern for the good of the program.”
Teleworking during COVID restrictions served as a catalyst to prepare the instructors to present, educate and deliver curriculum virtually.
“We incorporated activities and exercises that are designed to enhance lesson objectives while doing our absolute best to replicate the in-residence experience,” said Chief Master Sgt. Terrance Smiley, Kisling NCOA commandant.
One of the main differences from the in-residence course will be the number of hours students and instructors spend together.
“Teaching in a virtual environment will bring types of fatigue uncommon to the in-residence class version. We, as a cadre, have thought through these issues and have provided as many avenues as possible to try and duplicate the feeling of being at the academy,” Conniff added.
One of the biggest differences to teaching online, Tech. Sgt. Alex Torelli, NCOA instructor, found was the way instructors facilitate conversations.
“There will be options to type in a chat, speak in the meeting, and deliver your thoughts through discussion posts and whiteboards,” Torelli, said. “I also think that internet connectivity will be an issue for some. However, we spent this past week having small meet-and-greets with the class and were able to work out quite a few kinks.”
Smiley said one of the cornerstones of professional military education is feedback, so they built in a special feedback session at the end of each day to assess how the course if going so they can adjust the course as needed. He also said he doesn’t foresee virtual NCOA being a permanent solution.
“As an institution we value the in-residence PME experience,” said Smiley. “There are certain things that cannot be captured through a virtual platform, such as building relationships, drill and ceremony activities that serve to develop our future leaders,”
“We, as an academy, look forward to the day when we can have USAFE-AFAFRICA’s best and brightest walk through our doors again,” said Conniff. “Until that day comes, we will continue to sharpen the sword by utilizing innovation and technology.”
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2021 09:49 |
| Story ID: | 395546 |
| Location: | KAPAUN AIR STATION, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Kisling NCOA prepares for move to virtual platform, by TSgt Stephen Ocenosak, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
