Edwards hosts additional-duty first sergeant symposium

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Edwards hosted an additional-duty first sergeant symposium at the Conference Center here March 17 through 21. 

Fifty-one students attended the symposium including technical sergeants, master sergeants and senior master sergeants from Edwards and other bases. 

"The symposium is about giving select (noncommissioned officers) the necessary tools to aid them in being acting first sergeants," said Master Sgt. Bobby Herron, 412th Operations Group first sergeant. "The tools learned during the symposium also strengthen their supervisory skills by informing them of all the resources available to them that they may not know about." 

Instructors from the First Sergeant Academy provided briefings during the symposium. 

"The goal of the symposium is to inform and educate," Sergeant Herron said. "Five days will not make you a first sergeant, but it will provide you with valuable tools to assist you in your duties." 

The symposium is important because it provides training to individuals who may be serving as an additional-duty first sergeant, but has had no kind of formal training from FSA, he said. It covered many of the situations they will face in the position, and it also allowed the students to see what first sergeants really do. 

Topics covered included counseling techniques, processing an Article 15 and the different organizations available for them. 

For Master Sgt. Clay Slaton, 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron bomber weapons supervisor, he said he learned the value and overall importance of the first sergeant position through this symposium. 

"The first sergeant position is vital to good order and discipline among all ranks, which ensures an efficient-operating Air Force," Sergeant Slaton said. "I've learned that no one can cope alone with all issues, and that there are various agencies out there that are ready to help." 

The symposium is very beneficial because it broadens one's perspective of how and why the Air Force functions the way it does, he said. Discipline, morale and good order are key elements first sergeants must constantly address with present and future Airmen. 

"As first sergeants, we are here to help people because people are our business," Sergeant Herron said. "Most people don't see it when we help someone get an interest-free loan so they can repair their car, put food on the table for their family or go home to attend a funeral of a loved one. That really is a huge part of our job and why many of us became first sergeants to begin with. It's all about helping Airmen."