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AF instructors empower Iraqi warrant officers to lead

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham
  • U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team
CAMP TAJI, Iraq --  Twenty-nine Iraqi air force members, the largest class to date, graduated from the warrant officer professional development course at the Iraqi Air Force School House here March 28 with help from their U.S. Air Force instructors.

The number of attendees demonstrates the commitment of the Iraqi air force throughout the ranks. Leaders are noting the importance of having a core of trained professionals to help lead the air force into the future.

"I give a lot of thanks to the teachers for their support in developing our air force," said Iraqi General Nadam, Al Taji Air Base commander and presiding official. "If we help each other, participate with each other and support each other to develop our air force we will see a good result in the future."

The seven-day course, culminating with an official graduation ceremony, was a pivotal step for the Iraqi warrant officers where they were taught leadership focused lessons which will pay dividends in the future as Iraqi continues to strive to restructure its military force.

"We teach discipline, leader influence, teamwork and development, ethics and values, LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict) and problem solving, with a capstone exercise," said Tech. Sgt. Rick Dunaway, 821st Expeditionary Training Squadron Iraqi warrant officer professional development course instructor.

"They are going to be better prepared because they are going to be able to deal with each other, we aren't teaching them how to fix planes, drop bombs or writing paperwork," added Tech. Sgt. Mike Higby, 821st ETS Iraqi warrant officer professional development course instructor. "We are teaching them how to deal with each other and that is the most valuable thing we can teach them. When you are in a dynamic situation like the flight line where things are changing and you have to constantly reprioritize and redirect your people and resources, you have to know how to work with one another."

The Iraqi students, ranging from one to 38 years of military service, have been stifled when it comes to leadership, according to Sergeant Dunaway.

"During the Saddam regime they were not given the opportunity to be leaders, they were just workers and now with the new structure of the Iraqi air force, these warrant officers are being empowered to lead," he said. "Leadership has not changed in thousands of years; all we are trying to do is instill in them the ability to be leaders,"

The instructors here have worked hard to modify the lessons they teach to better suit the Iraqis'needs and to their testament the size of their classes have grown substantially.
"Our curriculum is a living document ... it changes daily. I mean not only are we teaching, but we are learning," said Sergeant Dunaway, who is deployed from Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Ala., is a native of Russellville, Ark. "Our plan is not to change the Iraqi people to be a western culture; our plan is teach the Iraqis fundamentals and give them the basic tools they need regardless of where they are from."

With the language barrier and culture differences, the instructors said there have been many challenges teaching the Iraqis but the rewards have outweighed those challenges.
"As an instructor teaching PME, when you have individuals who come to you and say you have taught me something I can use every day in my everyday life, that's the reward for us," said Sergeant Dunaway.

"Even though there is a language barrier you can still look in someone's eyes and tell when they have got the information you have given them, when they are truly happy that they have gotten it, that's what I think I will remember the most, the look in someone's eyes that says I finally have the knowledge I need to make an impact," said Sergeant Higby, who is deployed from Kapaun Air Base, Germany, a native of Anchorage, Alaska.