More than 100 Airmen from across Ohio travelled to Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station to attend the 2nd Annual Ohio Enlisted Leadership Symposium, July23-25.
The symposium focused on personal and professional development and relationship building, enhancing leadership skills and allowing Airmen to develop bonds with their counterparts across Ohio.
“Our Airmen are doing amazing work and I want our Airmen to know the different mission sets and capabilities that we have across the state,” said Chief Master Sgt. Thomas A. Jones, State Command Chief of the Ohio Air National Guard. “The relationships they build here will help them be more effective.”
“We’ll be deploying with Airmen from other wings, so it’s important to build relationships across the state so we’ll already be a cohesive unit and have that teamwork and foundation of trust built,” said Staff Sgt. Suzie Cullen, a personnel specialist assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing attending the symposium.
The three-day event included a variety of guest speakers, leadership challenges, and discussion forums with key Ohio Air National Guard leaders. Speakers covered topics from resiliency and unconscious bias to emotional intelligence and motivational leadership, providing Airmen with the tools necessary to be an effective leader in the Air Force.
“I gained a lot of insight into different methods we can use to deal with the different leadership challenges we face,” said Tech. Sgt. Jeremiah Dawson, a command post controller assigned to the 180th Fighter Wing.
The symposium also gave Airmen the opportunity to speak with their leaders at the Ohio National Guard and learn about their plans for future operations and missions. Additionally, it allowed them the opportunity to learn about the trials and challenges their senior leaders faced during their careers and how the lessons they learned shaped them as leaders.
“The enlisted force is the backbone of the Air National Guard, and these Airmen are the future of our force,” said Brig. Gen. James Camp, Assistant Adjutant General for Air, Ohio National Guard. “It’s critical to develop them as leaders if we want to continue to be successful into the future.”