Mentoring through mock interviews

From left, Command Chief Master Sgt. Eric Wallace, Major Glenn Davis, and Senior Master Sgt. Ed Taylor, 121st Air Refueling Wing, interview Master Sgt. Earl Walker at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio, Feb. 7, 2015. Members of the 121st Air Refueling Wing participated in mock board interviews during the February UTA. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt, Zachary Wintgens/Released)

Mentoring through mock interviews

Command Chief Master Sgt. Eric Wallace, 121st Air Refueling Wing, interviews Master Sgt. Earl Walker, 121st Logistic Readiness at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio, Feb. 7, 2015. Members of the 121st Air Refueling Wing participated in a mock board interviews during the February UTA. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt, Zachary Wintgens/Released)

A renewed focus on mentoring

Published Feb. 10, 2015
By Senior Master Sgt. Chris Combs
121 ARW

RICKENBACKER AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ohio -- One of the prevailing themes across the Wing in the recent Wing Climate Assessment Survey was in the area of mentoring. Members of the Wing want more mentoring and career development opportunities.

Mentoring is quite simply a relationship in which a person with greater experience and wisdom guides another person to develop both personally and professionally. This is a critical component of force development, preparing the bench.

The Equal Opportunity (EO) office and Human Resource Advisor (HRA) are putting a renewed focus on mentoring. During February UTA, 18 airmen participated in mock interview boards to help develop their interview or board skills. This particular event was sponsored by the Enlisted Field Advisory Council (EFAC) and HRA. Due to the great success of this type of event, more of these will be planned this year. Next, the EFAC is working on putting together a "speed mentoring" event. This is a fun mentoring event that is in the format of speed dating. This is currently being planned for May UTA. Lastly, we are going to begin having "Career Journey Sessions". These will be events where you can come hear a Wing leader speak about their career journey. These are just a few mentoring opportunities that are on the horizon. We're looking for members and/or councils across the base to support these efforts. If you are interested, please contact Capt. Melissa Appleman or Senior Master Sgt. Chris Combs.