JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII -- The 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing graduated 12 students through the first Resilience Trainer Assistant's Course at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, June 19-21.
As part of the wing's Comprehensive Airmen Fitness efforts, the class focused on an Air Force of balanced, healthy, self-confident Airmen, family members and Air Force civilians whose resilience and total fitness enables them to excel in an era of a high operational tempo and persistent challenges.
Members from across the wing attended the three-day seminar, led by a master resilience trainer. In turn, the new RTA's will take what they've learned and teach it to personnel throughout their individual squadrons and geographically separated units.
Air Mobility Command became one of two major commands in the Air Force to champion this new initiative. The training adopts components from the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center and the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program. There are approximately 29 MRTs throughout AMC.
This particular RTA course had students ranging from senior NCOs to company grade officers, along with a senior airman. The students started the course by defining resiliency in its rawest form: the ability to grow and thrive in the face of challenges and bounce back from adversity. Throughout the training, participants referred to the analogy of a common eighth grade science experiment of planting two beans. One was planted without light and given limited water. It grew, but did so very awkwardly and clumsily. The other was supplied light and watered regularly. It not only grew, but thrived.
"I was extremely skeptical of the training at first," said Senior Master Sgt. Jimmy McBee from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. "But I learned a ton of skills that will help me with my Airmen and my family. I can't wait to get home to use them."
Part of the course curriculum required students to complete the VIA Character Strengths online survey prior to attending. The character strengths module showed how each individual can exploit their strengths to create effective teams, deepen engagements and overcome challenges such as leadership, perspective, spirituality, humility or honesty.
Throughout the course, participants learn the core competencies that contribute to resilience: self-awareness, self-regulation, optimism, mental agility, strengths of character and connection. Students learn seven skills - Activating Events/Thoughts/Consequences, Avoiding Thinking Traps, Detecting Icebergs, Energy Management, Problem Solving, Putting It In Perspective and Real-Time Resilience. All seven skills build resiliency by targeting one or more of the core competencies to develop an Airman's ability to understand their thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
"I was amazed by how I've walked through my life skipping over my thoughts," said Senior Airman Christina Powell from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. "When I reacted to an event, I just reacted not considering my thought process."
The course concluded with a Building Strong Relationships and Effective Praise module. This module provides a strategy for wingmen to demonstrate with authenticity that they care and to enable winning streaks in the Airman and family members they value.
Master Sergeant Adam Lewis of Kadena Air Base, Japan, said, "This particular part impacted me the most emotionally. It's important that my wife and kids know that I truly value them. I have to show them through my communication. In the Air Force, they structure how we communicate and it's easy - but not as much with my family."
The newly trained RTAs will be appointed as the wing's resilience instructor cadre and are charged with training each of their respective unit personnel at Osan AB, Korea; Yokota and Kadena ABs, Japan; Andersen AFB, Guam; JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
Col. Kevin Lamberth, 515th AMOW commander, said, "It's important that we reach all of our Airmen by bringing them in and providing them with necessary resiliency skills before they are faced with a big challenge. It's important to our Airmen, their families and the organization, and it's the right thing to do."