Mentoring; it’s our responsibility

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Seargent Wendell L. Peacock
  • 94th Airlift Wing command chief
DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. --  Shortly after arriving at my first duty station, I went through my squadron orientation and was assigned to a security police flight, now called the security forces squadron, and began my career.

While going through squadron orientation I met Staff Sgt. Hettsmensperger. We called him Staff Sgt. "Hetts" for short. He was a controller assigned to the flight and lived down the hall from me in the dormitory. He was from Florida as I was, and involved in squadron sports, like softball, as I became, so we hit it off and became friends. Sergeant Hetts was never my immediate supervisor, but he took special interest in making sure my career was headed in the right direction. From correspondence courses, to who I associated with after duty, to what I was doing in my off duty time, he advised me.

Did I ask him to? Did he have to take this special interest? No. But he felt that as a Non-commissioned officer, it was his duty and responsibility to guide young Airmen. I didn't realize it then, but he was mentoring me, and his mentorship continued even after he was assigned to another base. Staff Sgt. Hetts was my first mentor and there have been others, both NCO and officer, during my thirty-plus year career. We all need someone to help us make sure we are on the right path in our careers and in life.

Over the past few months, I've been asked a lot about mentoring and the need to establish a mentoring program. I ask, "Do we really need another program?" Did Staff Sgt. Hetts mentor me as part of a program? No. He did it because he felt it was his responsibility as an NCO. However, if you do feel that there should be a formal program, I would submit to you that we already do; it's the "Enlisted Force Structure", AFI 36-2618.

Webster's dictionary defines a mentor as; a trusted counselor or guide; tutor or coach. In chapter four of the AFI, NCO Responsibilities, paragraph 4.1.2. states, "An NCO's primary purpose in the Air Force is to be a skilled technician in their assigned specialty and building, preparing and leading teams to accomplish the mission. I think Webster's definition captures that paragraph. As a guide, tutor or coach, you are building, preparing and leading.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website provides "Best Practices: Mentoring." It talks about formal mentoring which is structured, provides oversight and has clear personal and organizational goals. This would be more of the role as a supervisor. The mentoring Staff Sgt. Hetts provided me was more "informal"; it had no structure or oversight. As stated on the OPM website, "Informal mentoring is normally for interpersonal enhancement, but can also promote career development." This site provides a lot of valuable information, as well as references about mentoring. I hope you will check it out.

Our reserve force has changed a lot over the last ten years. Back in the day, the majority of personnel entering the reserves were prior service. However today that's not the case; we are seeing more and more non-prior service personnel entering the reserves. Many of them come with little or no real experience of being part of an organization.

A number of our Airmen are joining straight out of high school. They may or may not have participated in organized sports, been a member of a club or have ever held a part time job. Yes, they are motivated for different reasons, but in my discussions I have found that the majority have a true desire to serve; to be part of something much bigger than they are.

With those facts in mind, it is paramount that we as NCOs and Senior NCOs do our part and fulfill our responsibility; to mentor Airmen.