Ramstein hosts inaugural Airmen PES

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Timothy Moore
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The Ramstein Professional Enhancement Center hosted its inaugural Airman Professional Enhancement Seminar March 7, at the Ramstein Enlisted Club.

Approximately 65 Airmen attended the two-day PES designed to enhance their development and professionalism by augmenting the information provided to Airmen during basic military training, technical training schools and on-the-job training.

"The main purpose is to reach Airmen at an early time in their careers and teach some of the fundamentals we feel will help them structure themselves to be better performers as NCOs or senior NCOs," said Master Sgt. Erroll Jackson, 86th Force Support Squadron career assistance advisor. "Some of the things we teach them now are just snippets of what is being taught at the NCO academies. Early exposure is really important. The earlier we can reach them, the stronger the foundation we can build."

The PES opened with remarks from Chief Master Sgt. Phillip L. Easton, 86th Airlift Wing command chief, who spoke of how being informed positively affected  his career and why it was important for younger Airmen to be knowledgeable of what is expected of them under the whole-Airmen concept and what to expect of their supervisors and leaders.

Easton was involved with the process before the opening day, however, as the Airman PES came about from discussions between him, Jackson and Senior Master Sgt. Robert Berrier, also an 86th FSS CAA, on enlisted professional military education.

"With the changes coming about with EMPE, the inclusion of an online portion for intermediate leadership experience, we looked at senior NCO and NCO PES, those gap fillers for those tiers and asked, 'What about the Airmen?'" Jackson said. "Are we giving the proper focus that we should be to the Airmen? Understanding that, that's from where the Airman PES came."

The target audience for the Airman PES is Airmen whose time in service is between one and four years and have yet to attend Airman Leadership School.

Subject matter experts gave the Airmen information about being an individual while still working within a team, time management, customer service, nutrition and fitness, leadership and followership, and education among other things during the seminar.

The Airmen were also given the opportunity to express their viewpoints on some of the subjects through guided discussions.

"The interactive part is great because then you actually get to hear other people's perspectives," said Senior Airman Justin Thomas, 83rd Network Operations Squadron Detachment 4 directory service technician. "Then you can address those issues. It's good to see where we Airmen stand. If I give an answer that maybe sounds a little off, they can make sure that's emphasized in the briefing somewhere to get me thinking on track.

"Then, I get to hear what other people are thinking and maybe see and think about things from a perspective I wasn't thinking about before," Thomas added.

The Airman PES is scheduled to be held every other month, for a total of six a year.

"It's another opportunity to learn," Thomas said. "We are discussing things they are intentionally putting in the enlisted performance report. If it's important enough to be put in my evaluation, I think it is something that we should definitely focus on. This gives me a greater idea of how to conduct myself."

Once cleared through their supervision, Airmen can sign up for the Airman PES by visiting the Ramstein CAA SharePoint site. To volunteer as a briefer, individuals should contact the Ramstein CAAs at Ramstein.caa@us.af.mil.