ALI AL SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait -- 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Airmen along with joint and coalition partners completed the first deployed non-commissioned officer leadership development course May 19, 2019.
Senior Master Sgt. Arnaldo Ibarrientos and Master Sgt. Krystal Knight, first sergeants for the 386 Air Expeditionary Wing, 386th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron and 387th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, facilitated the 24-hour professional military education course for a total of 59 students.
Throughout the course, non-commissioned officers from the Air Force, Army, U.S. Marine Corps and Canadian Armed Forces engaged in discussions covering communication, trust, conflict management, teamwork and leadership proficiencies.
“This is originally a five-day course; however, with approval from the program managers, we were able to condense it to two-and-a-half days, given the deployment tempo,” Ibarrientos said. “Instead of one course, there were two courses taking place simultaneously.”
While NCOLDC was a course originally offered to members of Air Force Reserve Command, the course material is rewarding for attendees of all components and countries according to the instructors.
“There is a saying in the Air Force - ‘mission first, people always’ – even though we are in a deployed environment, it is important more than ever to continue to develop our members,” Knight said. With all the new changes and stressors that come with a deployment, the course is a perfect opportunity to professionally develop NCOs and for them to share valuable information with one another as well.”
Sgt Francis Aremo, Marine Corps Forces Central Command Coordination Element-Kuwait sustainment chief, expressed how much he enjoyed attending NCOLDC.
“The course was fantastic,” he said. “It's not often that I have the opportunity to interact with NCOs from the Air Force, Army, and the Canadian forces in the sort of setting that requires an extensive discourse about what makes us who we are as small unit leaders in our selective services. It was great for me to see firsthand that although we come from different services and widely differing backgrounds, our views on leadership and what's required of a leader is generally aligned.”
Ibarrientos and Knight both hope to see the course continue during and beyond the current rotation.
“We’ve had NCOs that came up to us after the course and said it was the best professional development course they have taken,” Ibarrientos said. “What makes this course even more unique is the opportunity to gain perspective of our joint and coalition partners. We hope this course carries on to the next rotation, especially after seeing how impactful it was for all our deployed members.”