Tri-base Airmen come together for ‘Strategic Think Tank’

  • Published
  • By Gina Randall
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  “Airmen solving Airmen problems,” said Senior Master Sgt. Tara Thompson, 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron Material Management flight chief. “We’re going to talk about potential problems we face in the Air Force. You’re going to walk us into a problem, then help us solve it. We want you to think outside of the box and use
whatever tools you need.”

The Professional Development Center hosted the training which took place Oct. 19, 2016, in the Rosenthal Auditorium on RAF Mildenhall, England.

Around 20 Airmen from across base and RAF Lakenheath, came together for a strategic think tank. The aim of the course was to give people a forum to share their ideas on what the Air Force is doing right, and what can be improved — an organization that will foster an all-inclusive environment and the opportunity to think on a strategic level.

“There’s no right or wrong answer, so don’t be shy,” said Thompson. “We’re rich in thought and creativity. That’s what we’re here for today. It’s your right to use your ideas to turn around our problems, and resolve them.”

The day began with the group introducing themselves to the other service members and sharing what unit and career field they were from. This diversity of knowledge was why many people wanted to be a part of the event.

“I was interested as I hadn’t heard or seen anything about this kind of class before,” said Tech. Sgt. William Skinkle, 488th Intelligence Squadron NCO in charge of operations training. “I was told the class was solving real problems and working with different people to do that. It would be an opportunity to see things from other people’s perspective, as the people are from different squadrons, different career fields. They could give some insight into ways I haven’t viewed problems from before.”

A video was followed by a short slide show.

“What you’re going to learn today is more from talking amongst each other than going over a bunch of slides,” Thompson laughed. “I’m going to go over some tools that will help you with solving problems. We’re going to look at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — or SWOT, and the Fishbone Diagram…but please don’t let these tools limit your creativity.”

She went on to talk about how strengths and weaknesses are internal issues seen in the workshops and offices by those taking care of the mission each day. They include various resources and experiences. She also discussed how opportunities and threats are external factors, often outside of the Airmen’s span of control, but there’s depth to make an impact.

The class was broken into small groups and given a problem to discuss and work on, and make the problem actionable. The groups were to talk about their thoughts, ideas and perspectives on the subject.

“How do you solve problems in the Air Force?” said Master Sgt. Shemika Thompson, 100th Operations Support Squadron Weather flight chief. “And how do you know you have successfully solved the problem? You’re going to develop a clear problem statement, identify and analyze that problem, define the problem impact for different elements (the subordinates, unit, mission, Air Force, or leader effectiveness). Then develop a clear solution statement, identify constraints or explain why there are no constraints, identify risks, develop a solution impact. Think of major tasks, milestones, resources, organizations support as needed for implementation. What does success look like?”

Groups worked on the issue before sharing their ideas and asking each other questions. They explained their problem statements, analysis, constraints, risks, impacts and resources.

Leadership look to their Airmen to be innovative, and share their ideas. Lt. Col. Jennifer Neris, 100th LRS commander, and Lt. Col. Benjamin Carroll, 100th OSS director of operations, took time to listen to the group’s out briefs, and then the other groups asked questions.

Many people see areas they would like changed as they go about their day, it’s how organizations evolve and become stronger. The message of the day was to turn ideas into results.

“How do you successfully know you’ve solved your problem?” (Senior Master Sgt.) Thompson said.

Just because something has always been done a certain way, it doesn’t mean it’s done effectively. The Air Force welcomes and encourages its people to look for ways to improve procedures and make processes better, for today and tomorrow.