MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Commanders and senior enlisted leaders from 18 units in the 93d Air Ground Operations Wing convened for a conference on raising unit standards and improving leadership here, Feb. 5 through 7.
The three-day conference, held every six months, allowed commanders from geographically separated units around the country to meet face-to-face, share best practices and learn new leadership techniques.
“I hope they take back two things,” said Birch. “First is an idea of what the best practices are across the wing that they can take back to their units. The second thing would be things that they can do to take better care of themselves as leaders and improve their own performance.”
This conference included guest speaker Dr. Jannell MacAulay, Ph.D., an expert in improving the performance of members of high-stress organizations. She discussed ways to help not only the commanders, but also their Airmen, through nutrition, physical and mental fitness and values discovery.
“The inclusion of an outside speaker with expertise at the doctoral level in psychological care is different,” said Birch. “Dr. MacAulay is here to help teach how we raise the game in our personal life, so we can be there for our Airmen.”
MacAulay spoke for five hours on ways to improve mental and physical health. The conference also allowed commanders to meet during breakout sessions and find innovative ways to improve their units. Commanders also had networking events, introductions to the wing staff and briefings on administrative changes.
“We have to take some time to pause as leaders and work on ourselves—make sure that we are taking time to sleep well, eat well, sort of reflect.” said Maj. Ruben Velez, 803d Operations Support Squadron, director of operations. “I think that’s going to help us become better leaders, honestly, and that’s an approach you don’t see often when you go to military events.”