through the celebrating the Work force
series . L C M . C Leadership aims to
highlight different areas of
professional development for our Airmen .
My name is Melanie Marshall and I am
the director of the acquisition Center
of Excellence which is part of the L C .
M . C . The following interviews are
from three part series focusing on
generations in the workforce .
Communication , motivation and
mentoring are our main themes as we
hear from different generations on all
three topics . This first segment
focuses on the importance of
communication among teams improving how
teams interact often means increased
productivity and agility . Frequent
communication also fosters a sense of
belonging among our team members .
Working with different age groups can
be both challenging as well as
rewarding after introductions from our
L . C . M . C Commander , Lieutenant
General Sean Morris and Captain Alexis
to Darrow . You will meet two members
of our B 52 program office each is from
a different generation and has a unique
perspective on communication at work .
I would like to welcome you to our
second virtual event in the Air Force
life cycle management workforce series
celebrating generations . The Air Force
has diversified in many aspects . Today
we take a deeper look at the very
generations within the workforce ,
exploring how teams have benefited from
the specialized skill sets of the
boomers , gen x millennials and gen Z
Airmen to deliver capabilities . The
Air Force must continuously advance
weapons systems to stay lethal and
relevant while we work to discover
groundbreaking technologies for new
platforms through programs such as in
God we also work to upgrade and
integrate longstanding air systems such
as the infamous B 52 stratofortress .
The B 52 was first fielded in the 19
fifties but continues to be modernized
for the 20 thirties and beyond
integrating modern digital engineering
methodologies . Others to include
younger platforms like the F 22 undergo
continual defense upgrades . As near
peer adversary technologies become
better understood . The lethality and
dominance of the Air force depends on
this mix of new and legacy systems ,
but the effectivity of the weapons
systems blend not only represents
generations within our aircraft , but
generations within our workforce . Our
Air Force life cycle management center
team is a generational blend of
officers , enlisted civilians , support
contractors and industry , all working
together towards one common goal . It
is not uncommon to find teams with a
generation gap spanning five decades .
A generational gap is defined as the
difference in behavior and outlook
between groups of people who are born
at distinctly different times , traits
of a particular generation , drive
differing career goals motivators and
tools required for success . But
ultimately , by identifying and
understanding these unique
characteristics , leaders can harness
each generation strengths , creating a
total force team to execute the mission
and keep us relevant in this ever
evolving environment .
The first focus is communication
critical to every team's success . The
way in which teammates communicate can
vary and may relate to generational
differences . While not all
communication matter should be
attributed to generational gap . It is
important to understand the inherent
differences that exist . Baby boomers
and Generation X often lend to face to
face interactions and are more prone to
making a phone call . Millennial and
Generation Z . Trying to email and
instant messaging systems take a step
back into the history of communication
to understand why telephones have been
used by the military since World War
One and while not exactly the same
device , all current workforce
generations have grown up with a
telephone technology . On the other
hand , the first email was not sent
until 1971 and dot gov and dot mil
domains were not implemented until 1980
for Microsoft outlook hit the first
government computer in 1988 . This
means millennials were the first
generation born into outlook , email
use taking a step further portable
handheld phones have been present since
the 19 seventies but rather as bricks
than small mobile devices with email
access . The classic clamshell cell
phone became widely available starting
in the nineties . The latter half of
the millennial generation since cell
phones have evolved greatly with fast
internet for instant information
accessible to all of generation Z to
grow up with let's look at how
communication has impacted progression
within the life of a program Office and
has practiced among its team members .
Our first panel is from the B 52
program office the B 52 program office
was founded upon A . M . C .
Requirements for a strategic bomber in
1945 and has worked to field and keep
the stratofortress in the air with
continual upgrades since its first test
flight 70 years ago . This program
office has seen a vast evolution of
technology capitalizing on methods to
communicate , communicate within a team ,
communicate with contractors and
communicate data identified 70 years
ago to help modernization now .
Alright . Yes my name is Tyler , older
wiser and I am a part of the millennial
generation and my job slash role is a
structures engineer on the team for the
B- 52 . Um One of the ways I kind of
leverage um my multigenerational
teammates is you know several my
teammates especially on the B 52
program have been around for quite some
time . Some of them even been there
when some of these systems you know
some of the updates systems worked or
even there when they were in use . Um
Some of these systems I referred to is
how you know data was collected on the
B 52 or how even Boeing did some of the
stress reports or calculating it or or
you know any of that any of that way of
doing stuff because a bunch of those
reports we still use today and we got
to be able to understand them and you
know having those teammates there that
know a lot about it helps understanding
it because it's good to is very old as
you know and um it's good to have those
teammates because you can't just google
some of this stuff , especially if you
do find anything . It's it takes a
while . So just having those people
there um to help answer some of those
questions very helpful for my job .
Um that's how we , you know keep the
two up and sustain it and monetize it .
Communication is very vital for what we
do , especially when we got timelines
to meet for keeping the B- 52 going .
And so then once again my name is Tyler
Anheuser . I'm a B 52 structures
engineer on the team and I'm part of
the millennial generation .
Hello , my name is Jim Fellows . I was
born in 1965 which puts me at the very
beginning of generation X . I have over
35 years in my air force career from
active duty support contractor and now
as an air force civilian stationed at
Wright Patterson Air Force Base . I am
the deputy program manager for the B 52
radar modernization program . The multi
generational team on the B- 52 radar
modernization program has a wide range
of experienced skill sets and
functional disciplines . Communication
is vital to every relationship not only
with our immediate teammates in the
program office but also with a host of
external stakeholders including senior
acquisition leaders , the prime
contractor suppliers , the test
community Air Force and D . O . D .
Offices other services and perhaps most
importantly our customer Air Force ,
global Strike Command maintainers and
operators . The younger generation has
perhaps been the quickest to adapt to
modern communication technology . As a
result , they lead the way for the
older generations to start using the
available communication tools which are
necessary in this hybrid , physical
and virtual work environment that's
here to stay . As lieutenant general
Morris mentioned , leaders harness each
generation strengths , creating a total
team force to execute the mission and
keep us relevant and that's exactly
what we're doing on the B 52 . A
multigenerational team communicating
amongst ourselves and our stakeholders
to keep a fleet of 60 year old aircraft
relevant and vital to the fight through
2050 . I'm Jim Fellows , Deputy
program Manager for the B 52 radar
modernization program . Thank you .
Thank you . Lieutenant General Morris ,
Captain Todaro and our B 52 experts .
Tyler , Oh Heuser and Jim fellows keep
watching the A . F . L . C . M . C .
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