Grissom Hosts Annual Additional Duty First Sergeant Symposium
The Hoosier Wing hosted the fifth annual Additional Duty First Sergeant Symposium, March 9 – 12, at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Indiana.
The purpose of the symposium was to help attendees understand the role of a first sergeant, and to help develop Airmen interested in becoming future shirts.
“Our job as first sergeants is to make sure, we have a ready force for our commanders,” said Master Sgt. Micah Hancock,181st Security Forces Squadron first sergeant. “We help our service members take care of their health, welfare, morale and help them maintain good order and discipline. What it boils down to is taking care of people.”
Hancock was joined by several other first sergeants who spoke during the event; emphasizing that there is no such thing as an objective correct answer on how to solve problems as a first sergeant.
“Every first sergeant does the job differently,” said Senior Master Sgt. Christa Leach, 434th Civil Engineer Squadron first sergeant. “You have first sergeants who are on the softer side, and some who are on the more rigid side. All personality-types can be a first sergeant; it’s about how you apply who you are to a situation.”
Topics discussed during the event included, applying policy and standards, advising leadership, identifying key resources, managing discipline and conflict, enhancing communication, promoting mission readiness, sexual assault awareness, financial management, and more.
“I’ve definitely learned more about empathetic communication,” said Tech. Sgt Ashley Cockle, 434th Force Support Squadron human resource analyst. “Learning how to be there for someone while they’re going through something challenging, that’s important.”
While first sergeants need to be knowledgeable in these areas, they are not expected to be experts on them. Attendees were advised to guide individuals who are struggling with advanced problems to the experts in those fields.
“This is a really great opportunity for anyone, regardless of if they’re expecting to be a first sergeant or not,” said Hancock. “One of the things we teach is that everyone’s going to ‘first sergeant’ differently, and that you have to live in the grey area between the black and white of what's wrong and right sometimes.”
