OCR Text |
Show 8 HILLTOP TIMES TIMES December 11, 2008 Left, Col. Kevin Schneider, 388th Fighter Wing vice commander, can be seen in a split-screen presentation during a teleconference held via webcam with the University of Utah ROTC senior class. Below left, the class listens during one of the webcam presentations. WEBCAM From page 1 lieutenants. "Our seniors wanted a class mentor who is an accomplished senior officer (0-6 or higher), preferably a wing commander or vice wing commander," explained Lt. Col. Kent Wong, commander of Detachment 850. "They read Col. Schneider's biography and were quite impressed with his accomplishments and Air Force career. Col. Schneider is a fighter pilot who has combat experience, is a vice commander of a fighter wing, a graduate of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School and the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. Additionally, he served as aide-de-camp to a United States Air Force chief of staff. Overall, he is a highly decorated and successful Air Force officer." The University of Utah ROTC Detachment 850 recently implemented this virtual mentorship program to augment their Aerospace Studies 400 class with practical advice from high-ranking officers who can take the lessons from a textbook and reinforce them with their own experiences. "It's a phenomenal idea to have soonto-be commissioned second lieutenants be able to interact with people whom they would not normally interact with and ask them questions about senior leaders' or commanders' perspectives," said Schneider. "What I try to relay to them are the challenges of this job, like personnel issues. The lieutenants who are going to pilot training aren't going to have the same personnel challenges, but the lieutenants who are going into the other career fields certainly will." The Air Force ROTC Virtual Mentoring program was first implemented by the Iowa State University AFROTC commander, Col. Jim Cramp, and this summer the AFROTC headquarters provided each of its detachments with web cameras to implement their own program. Since many AFROTC detachments are not near an Air Force installation, this program eliminates the confines of time and space and allows the cadets to interact with their predecessors, said Wong. "One unit invited the Air Force Officer Accession and Training Schools commander, Maj. Gen. Flowers, to speak via the webcam," he said. Wong reports that many ROTC detachments are not taking advantage of this program due to difficulties) coordinating webcams at the host base, training their guest speakers on how to use the webcam software and dealing with the occasional technical issues. Although Schneider admits to being challenged by these technology issues, he feels that the benefits far outweigh the occasional setbacks. "These cadets are more savvy and more aware of their environment than I was at their age, and tech- Courtesy photos nology has opened up a lot of avenues for people to gain information," he said. "I think video teleconference and technology in general is a great idea." "This is truly a 21st century classroom," Wong adds. "When I was in ROTC 24 years ago at Texas A&M, all we had was an overhead projector with view graphs and 16 millimeter movies. Today with the latest technologies, such as the Internet, webcams, PowerPoint, DVDs, we have enhanced AFROTC training in order to produce the finest future Air Force officers." Technology issues challenged last Thursday's virtual mentoring session, disabling the webcam communication, and the mentorship proceeded via comparatively outdated speakerphone- Yet, the technical difficulties did not prevent the cadets from asking Schneider notable questions. The topic of the day regarded the military trend toward implementing a joint force and the questions posed to Schneider did not tread lightly on the topic. "Sir, this is Cadet Tucker," the voice boomed from Schneider's speakerphone. "Recently Secretary Gates • Hill AFB Job Openings Site Internal civilian announcements are posted on the Air Force Personnel Center Web site. Announcements for bargaining unit positions are posted on Fridays. All other announcements may be posted any day of the week. The Civilian Announcement Notification System is a subscription e-mail service available to jj assist employees in their job search. \ Self-nominations for posted announcements can be made on-line at wvwafpc.randolph.af.mil/resweb. or via the interactive voice response system at 1-800-997-2378 and TDD 1-800-382-0893. • For info on NSPS visit http://www.cpms.osd.mil/nsps. talked about combining bases with other services. How do you think combining bases with other services will impact our relationship with other departments in the defensive industry?" "I think it will continue to improve our interaction with the other services," Schneider answered. "Granted, there will be some challenges. Hill is not a joint base, but is a multi-MAJCOM base within the Air Force. We have an AFMC, an ACC and a reserve command, and we all have different priorities that make things challenging at times. The good news that I see at Hill is that we all learn and understand each other a little bit better. So in a joint environment where we have Navy, Army and Air Force stationed at the base, it will make us a more effective fighting team, because these organizations share a common mission. Then when you deploy, you are potentially deploying with the same forces and organizations that you've dealt with in peace times, so that can only make us more effective." After fielding two more questions on the topic, Schneider ended the call to allow Wong and the cadets to discuss the topic for several more hours. "Almost without fail during my lecture, I will refer back to something that Col. Schneider said in regards to the lesson being taught," Wong said. "Col. Schneider's insight and input to the class greatly ties in the theory taught in the classroom to the realities of an active duty fighter wing and the 'real' Air Force." Wong hopes to expand the mentorship program in the next academic year to include other guest mentors. "Since this is our first year, we wanted to try a dedicated class guest mentor," he explained. "But from the feedback received from my cadets, we will try to invite different guest speakers each week." Schneider would like to include the 388th FW command chief, Chief Master Sgt Kenneth Czop, in one of the upcoming mentorship sessions. "I think it would pay big dividends to get Chief Czop and perhaps a maintenance wing commander in on this VTC because not all of these soon-to-be-lieutenants will be pilots," Schneider said. For now, though, the cadets have been pleased with the mentorship Schneider has given them. "The cadets love the academic freedom and the ability to ask point blank, blunt questions to a senior Air Force leader," Wong says. "Col. Schneider also gives straightforward answers and tells the cadet 'how it really is' in the 'real' Air Force. The cadets are also impressed with Col. Schneider's commitment to their class. They're aware of the busy schedule that a vice wing commander has and are truly appreciative of Col. Schneider's dedication to them." End m Near! REBATE ENDS DEC. 31, 2008 1 In-Home Estimate Therapeutix Massage Center > _Hess Fitness Center & Fitness and Wellness Center 520 South State • Clearfield 393-1265/Weber County 773-4836/Davis/Morgan www.kearsleyservice.com www.HilltopTimes.com What are you missing? g balls, and mini golf you can pla News LifeTimes Commentary Around the Hill Link to official Base site Site Archive Search for free back to 1999! M^BBB^BDMSI (801) 825-3467 2885 W. 5200 S. Roy • 8253467 www.eaglelakeogolf.com See it all at . www.HilltopTimes.com TIMES Wotkly Since 1948 (801)510^0767 One-hour Session 3 One-hour Massage Sessions. 10 One-hour Massage Sessions. Half-hour Session 90-minute Session ..$45.00 . $40.00 ea. . S37.50 ea. .$30.00 . $70.00 Get Massage for everyone on your Christmas list! $5.00 OFF A one-hour or 90-min massage session or package of 3 or more! Coupon Expires December 31, 2008 Coupon only good ior one purchase. PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Dale Hibbert, Pediatrics Jennifer Brown, Family Leland Pack, Orthodontist Accepts Military Insurance Latest technology in painless dentistry Free exam for children under 2 yrs Arcade games & more Open Mon through Sat 774-0770 2112 N. HILLFIELD RD. #1 • LAVTON |