COMMENTARY: Mentoring: If not you now, then who when?

  • Published
  • By Col. Earl S. Scott
  • 100th Maintenance Group commander
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  I hope this article finds all of you in good standing personally, professionally and spiritually. 

So far, 2015 has been another outstanding year for this amazing installation as we consistently answer our nation's call to provide global air refueling, Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance capability, employ special operations and move countless patriots through the passenger terminal. I'm saddened to say that my time as the 100th Maintenance Group Commander is coming to an end, but I will look back on my assignment here with fond memories - not only because of the mission, but mostly because of the people I had the privilege of interacting with on a daily basis. 

As a commander, I have the opportunity to influence others whom I work alongside, and those daily interactions can go a long way in the development of the next generation of Air Force leaders. I believe one of the most important responsibilities a supervisor can have is to pay it forward a little every day by directly, or indirectly, mentoring those you lead.

The term "paying it forward" is generally recognized as a unique way of changing the world.

It's conventionally regarded as helping someone in any way that you can, asking that person to pay the favor forward to another in the hopes of creating a chain reaction that encourages the world toward goodness. In the military, a partial and relational concept of this phenomenon can be called mentorship.

The concept of mentoring is often regarded as a professional relationship in which a more experienced person voluntarily shares knowledge, insight and wisdom with a less experienced person who wishes to benefit from that association. A mentor is usually recognized as a person who is either experienced or mature enough to pass on to another those lessons that cannot be taught, trained, or gathered in another way. 

A previous mentor of mine once told me that few of us ever achieve anything in life without the help of another, and that every military member's focal point should be to work themselves out of a job and train their replacement. It's a concept that I routinely reference in the professional development seminars I host in the 100th MXG, and it's something I've internalized since I was a young first lieutenant with a second lieutenant working for me. 

In my opinion, a mentor must be committed to the process of developing the next generation of members in order for our armed forces to maintain its elite status of being the most powerful and capable military the world has ever seen.

Many of you have likely never heard of Maj. Gen. Fox Conner, but in the minds of his fellow soldiers, and in the judgment of several military historians, he was viewed as perhaps the most influential officer in the United States Army between World Wars I and II. 

Conner's unmatched technical abilities and his innate ability to recognize and nurture talented officers can be directly tied to the development of three tremendous historical leaders of all time:  Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall and George Patton. 

After serving with Fox Conner, and absorbing his tutelage, Eisenhower later became a Supreme Allied Commander and the 34th President of the United States; Marshall was appointed as the Army Chief of Staff, U.S. Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State; and Patton became a 4-star general and a legendary battlefield commander.

Don't misconstrue my intent and make the leap that anyone who does a good job of mentoring another will automatically forge a path for his or her mentee to become a revered household name as did those aforementioned national heroes.  However, if supervisors don't take the time to recognize and nurture talent, in my humble opinion, there's a 100 percent certainty that future Air Force leaders won't mature and develop properly.   

I believe that mentorship is an integral part of the foundation of our armed forces, and without it, we'd struggle mightily to identify leaders capable of providing for our collective defense and our legacy of greatness would be in jeopardy.  So, if you're a commander, supervisor or trainer, and don't wear the mentorship badge with pride and honor now, then I ask you this; if not you now, then who when?