Friday, October 7, 2011

TOP STORY >> Stepping stones to success: Special duty assignments

By Staff Sgt. Jacob Barreiro
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

For many Airmen, their stay in the Air Force is interspersed with many routines or instances of déjà vu caused by familiarity with the job. It is not uncommon for feelings of familiarity to be coupled with disinterest. When the engaging becomes routine, and commonplace, there can be no other culprit afflicting Airmen than that one scourge of all productive businesses: boredom.

Airmen needing a break from the daily grind would do well to consider special duty assignments.
“Special duty assignments give a lot of career benefits,” said Tech. Sgt. Mark Reis, an Air Education and Training Command enlisted ascensions recruiter in Jacksonville, Ark. “Obviously … kinda stepping out of your current career field is big. Getting a fresh breadth of experience, new breadths of experience, with a different type of career, totally different from that of which you’ve known.”

Reis, who’s been a recruiter since December 2008, said the recruiting special duty assignment gave him an entirely new perception and set of skills to work with in the Air Force.

“Recruiting is totally different,” said Reis. “It gives you the chance to go back to your career field with definite new leadership skill sets.”

Taking on a special duty assignment is a big step which requires careful consideration, said Master Sgt. Troy Trevino, 19th Comptroller Squadron and 19th Airlift Wing Director of Staff first sergeant.
“Finding a way to give back, to help mentor and guide others … if you’re sincere about doing that, then it’s the right special duty,” Trevino said. “Just like in any duty, you want to see if it interests you. If you’re not willing to help others and if you’re not interested in mentoring and guiding people, then you shouldn’t do it because those are things you’ll be doing every day.”
Reis said one of the leadership traits he learned as a recruiter is being a mentor.

“You’re mentoring these civilians,” said Reis. “They’re going to be Airmen. We get a sense of leadership and supervisory skills with Airmen, but the way that you guide them is different than with civilians.”

Taking on the role of recruiter has taught him better skills at being patient while working with prospective recruits, said Reis, who worked for 10 years as a maintenance Airman on the flight line before becoming a recruiter.

“As a recruiter, you’re their supervisor,” said Reis. “It’s important how supervisors treat their Airmen. The way you treat them, the way you react with them, that’s going to be their first Air Force supervisor experience.”

Reis said he became a recruiter almost immediately after putting on technical sergeant stripes, but recommends that people seek out special duty assignments even earlier.

“I would say start looking for them at that staff sergeant level,” said Reis. “Don’t wait too late. I say wait until you’re a staff sergeant to get a little bit of NCO experience in your job. For most people that’s going to be at the six to seven year mark. That gives you an opportunity to go into a different career field as a staff sergeant, possibly make tech in that special duty, and then come back to your career field.”

While it is his own suggestion to wait until becoming a staff sergeant before taking on a special duty assignment, Reis said that anyone with leadership abilities and other skill sets can compensate for a lack of experience. He wouldn’t discourage a senior airman from pursuing a special duty like recruiting.

“I would recommend you get experience with supervising Airmen and writing enlisted progress reports,” said Reis. “If you have no experience supervising and accomplishing these things before taking on a special duty it can leave you at a disadvantage when you go back to your career field.”
Being a supervisor is a stepping stone to becoming a good first sergeant, said Trevino.

“As a supervisor, we do that … helping people grow and develop. As a first sergeant, we do the same thing but [the special duty] provides another opportunity to share with others,” Trevino said. “You get to go out with different organizations and grow as a professional. So the benefit is two-fold: [special duty assignments] help you grow and gives you the opportunity to help others grow.”

It is the experience of stepping out of your career field that’s most important, said Reis. There are difficulties in taking on special duty assignments, but in the end, they will offer benefits to Airmen that otherwise might not be available.

“I picked up some skills recruiting that I otherwise wouldn’t have,” said Reis. “Definitely, and this is my opinion only, it made me appreciate my old job. Working on the flight line, I appreciate it more. This is a different genre of Air Force.”

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