Essay on My Air Force Experience

A good leader in the United States Army is made-up of several different essential characteristics. As soon to become leaders in our profession, is our individual responsibility to know, understand and apply these characteristics in the way we conduct ourselves every day. Because we are the role models for soldiers to follow not only in our job but also in our personal life. Stewardship of the Army profession in one of these mayor characteristics of a good leader in our career. Being a steward of the profession, focuses in three mayor traits: character, competence and commitment.

There are several leaders that I have admired in my career over the years. One in particular that stood out was a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force who I served under. He was a very intelligent and vibrant leader who placed importance in military customs and core values. He was one whom I emulated in the military because of his task –motivated leadership style. He focused on the goals of the organization with the emphasis on service before self. The implications of his style of leadership lead me to believe that there was little to no relationships formed with lower ranking airmen. He was always able to get the job done because of the driven culture he represented. I learned a wealth of knowledge and information from this particular leader; I was able to create a balance by embracing his style of leadership and relating it with my style, transformational leadership. I believe it was successful, because of my efforts to focus in on the mission and create a balance in inspiring, influencing, and motivating Airmen across the globe.

Leadership can be viewed in many different ways and possess many different qualities. There are courageous leaders, respectful leaders, terrible leaders, and seemingly insignificant leaders but leaders nonetheless. But what is it that differentiates between a strong leader and a weak leader, or a powerful leader and an insignificant one? Is it the qualities in the leader or the decisions they make in key situations that define good leadership qualities? Some would define a good leader by their ability to do the right thing even if it is not the easiest choice. Others might define a good leader as one that possesses great integrity and leads by example. The military possesses many great leaders through a process of development and molding individuals to meet expected leadership qualities like honor, courage, commitment and integrity to accomplish any mission or goal. However, this process doesn’t always create the desired effect. So, let’s examine some good and bad examples of leadership qualities and break down what and how we can emulate them.

On Nov 2013, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) awarded the contract to “modernize” its existing custom developed application Cadet Administrative Management Information System (CAMIS) II to the Solers Corporation (Solers Corporation, 2016). CAMIS was developed over several years and began to encompass support for many disparate business processes at the Academy, but primarily served as a Student Information/Management System. This modernization effort or CAMIS III was the third iteration of moving CAMIS from a legacy system to a new platform. Almost 2 years later: Mar 2016, this project ended with the government decision to discontinue the modernization effort. This was done by primarily not exercising option years and stopping funding on the modernization development line item of the contract. (Paulson, 2015) Despite modernization effort ending, the government continued to support the CAMIS III operations and support portion of the contract, as well as the legacy CAMIS II contract. This paper attempts to analyze why this software project failed, based on the personal experiences and perspectives from the overall combined team and attempts to understand why. The major reasons for failure included: gross underestimates (scope, cost, and schedule). However, there were opportunities to achieve a better outcome. These opportunities were failures by the program manager, vendor team, and management stakeholder expectations.

As a professional leader, role models are an important source of inspiration and development. The ability to deliberately aim to improve as a leader is equally important. In the Army, the Leadership Requirements Model found in doctrine provides the framework necessary to make those deliberate improvements. This framework presents the opportunity to analyze our leadership role models using the Leadership Requirements Model and assess how that leader has contributed to the Army or the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Corps. Additionally, it is important to apply the same analysis to how that role model has influenced our own leadership. Lastly, with these considerations in mind, leaders can project into the future and determine what kind of legacy they wish to leave. The purpose of this analysis is to explore these opportunities and the relationships between doctrinal leadership, a legacy leader, and my own leadership and legacy. My father, retired Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) Nelson Stydinger, had a significant influence on the profession during his own service. He also represents my most important leadership influence throughout my career and his record informs the type of legacy I would like to leave as an Army leader.

Basic and advanced individual training pushed me to give my all in everything I do. The ability to serve my country and travel made me proud. When I was direct commission as a physician assistant in the National Guard it thrust me into a leadership role that I was not trained for, but my life experiences to this point helped me on this path. Training soldiers and maintaining battalion medical readiness was the core of my duties. Amongst the most valuable attributes I developed while serving was time management, extensive preparation and

Moreover, the military also gave me the opportunity to travel abroad. Living in countries such as Korea, Spain, and Germany and immersing myself in their cultures has given me perspective on the differences between the United States and other countries. Each place I have lived has been unique in some way, from the different languages to the variations in cultural practices. Dealing with individuals with different backgrounds has helped me develop a good rapport with people.

Did I make it? That was the question I was asking myself the night before what was going to be one of the most special days of my life. After being called to leave for Air Force Basic Training on a short 8-day notice, I was now finally at the end of my journey and tomorrow I would graduate and become an Airmen. The nerves and excitement were running through my body as I was unable to sleep in anticipation of the big day. Now the day is here and I get to celebrate all my hard work by seeing my family and earning the title of an Air Force Airmen.

Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.

My leadership philosophy revolves entirely around the Army Values. In every action I take as a leader, I assess whether or not it lines up with the Army Values and the potential impacts. I have had a variety of leadership assignments during my career, all requiring a different leadership approach, spanning from team leader through platoon sergeant. My conflict resolution skills have greatly evolved through my twelve years in the Army, from rudimentary conversations to in depth problem solving. My professional development has had a profound effect on my leadership abilities, from NCOPD’s to mentorship from senior non-commissioned officers (NCO’s).

I was elected to be a Thespian Officer my freshman year as the only underclassman to be granted a position for the following year. Consequently, I returned as the only veteran officer my junior year. Being the only one who had experience leading in this department, I was appointed to show the ropes to a brand new set of officers- some of which were seniors who had acted in the department for nearly four years. The intimidating task of coordinating and training a group of people who were older, had higher positions, and were possibly more qualified than I became daunting. However, it was in this time of building a strong team that I grew as a leader, communicator, and team player.

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

Leaders are look upon as role models as they guide us with their motivating, influence to accomplish tasks. There are a lot of leadership styles; when leading, it is based on the situation. When I was in the military, I encountered with many different styles of leadership. A leadership that I considered meaningful is a Transformational Leader. The transformational Leader in the military with their inspiring charisma of motivating, influence creates a visualized path that produces energetic characteristics that inhere to new changes, developments, and possibilities.; by demonstrating authority, the Transformational Leader in the military utilizes their power to inspire and motivate people into trusting and following their example; this as

My time in the military has shown me that I have a need for order and discipline. I want to instill this trait into my subordinates and affectively give them the tools to succeed and complete the mission both home and abroad. I lead from the front and never leave those willing to strive for betterment. My plan involves completing my degree and obtaining the knowledge level needed to effectively take care of and train my replacements in true values, pride in ownership and family values. A stepping stone is that anyone can learn from anyone, even if it’s what not to do. I challenge myself to right all the wrong styles of leadership that I have experienced throughout my career and be that exception to the policy/good ole boy club members. The Air Force can change with assistance from those willing to make the change. I have given blood for my countries ideals and know I will give my every effort to help produce the most capable and experience airmen for the purpose set by our CINC. I

The Army and the Air Force have many similarities and differences, some of the similarities are the troop’s dedication, diversity, and patriotism, and some of the differences are the way each branch trains, their respective customs, and quality life.