Page 2 - Desert Lightning News So. AZ Edition, June 1 2018

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June 2018 Desert Lightning News www.aerotechnews.com/davis-monthanafb
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OTS: ‘The assignment I never knew I needed’
by Capt. JOSHUA GOERSS
Officer Training School
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. — Sometimes there are things in life that happen to you that are so un- expected you fail to comprehend their inherent value. Such was the case for me in my assignment to Officer Train- ing School.
OTS was an assignment I was not expecting and had entirely no interest in. However, since arriving at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, more than two years ago, this duty has proven to be the assignment I never knew I needed.
What’s so special about OTS?
As an OTS instructor, you are truly challenged to become a better officer. As it turns out, many of the same traits ex- pected of a good leader, such as enthusi- asm, patience, confidence and empathy, are some of the same traits exhibited by highly effective instructors.
The abundant amount of interaction with adult learners provides a near-con- stant feedback loop that the instructor can then refine old patterns of behavior and sharpen leadership skills.
Let’s consider the aspect of commu- nication.
There seems to be a natural human tendency for us to think of ourselves as sufficient communicators; however, this is often an incredibly naive assumption.
Directly leading a flight of 16 cadets from sunup to sundown will quickly highlight any shortcomings in your
methods of communication. This delib- erate focus on precise, confident speech is something that lies at the foundation of being a leader. Subordinates, peers and supervisors alike thrive on clearly thought out communication and intent.
It is not enough to simply understand the importance of precise speech. You must practice this skill just like any other.
What I’ve come to realize as a flight commander that isn’t self-evident is that when it comes to sharpening your ability to connect with people in mean- ingful and productive ways, you really have to pay attention. Making the con- scious effort to do things like being more attentive to people and more precise in your speech begins to create the habit of metacognition, that is, thinking about how you think. This is how you can begin to slowly influence those micro habits of your own personal leadership into becoming more effective.
The fast-paced daily routine of a flight commander forces the examina- tion of those inefficient or ineffective leadership habits. In this environment, the shortcomings of your unconscious habits rear their loathsome heads and demand immediate attention.
It’s important to remember that as a flight commander, a significant part of your duties involves teaching, and the foundation of teaching is centered on developing a relationship with each person in the room, albeit a brief one.
On the face of it, it may seem as though the activity of guiding a discus-
sion or teaching a lecture is a one- way flow of information, but this is definitely not the case. If you allow yourself to explore the material at hand using the knowledge and experience of a flight of students, you, the flight commander, have the potential to learn just as much, if not more than your students from the abundance of teaching and mentoring interactions.
In a sea of deliberately designed chaos, the pressure of performance is equally felt as an instructor; the difference in outcome is de- termined by how seriously you shoulder the full weight of respon- sibility that comes with modeling the ideal officer.
Due to the nature of your po- sition as flight commander, cadets typically have extremely high expecta- tions of you. This heavy expectation to perform has the potential to amplify the motivation of the individual flight commander in a way that pushes you to want to be better.
With this responsibility comes great reward, for you are truly affecting more individual change than you will ever imagine, and you’re doing it by simply paying attention to how you handle yourself as an officer.
Being a flight commander has al- lowed me the time to improve in areas such as public speaking, articulated thought and speech, time manage- ment, increased openness to creative on-the-fly leadership, peer leadership,
defining repeatable processes, conflict resolution, counseling and delivering clear expectations.
It also has allowed me to understand the tremendous value of individual and team goals.
I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be a flight commander at OTS as it has provided me with the perfect envi- ronment to sharpen critical leadership skills while at the same time allowing for the possibility to make an immediate and lasting positive impact on hundreds of future Air Force officers.
We all have areas we can improve when it comes to leadership; the ca- tharsis takes place when we boldly peer into the abyss and decide to face our shortcomings. This is where true change takes place.
Lupus: An invisible autoimmune disease
by Staff Sgt. OLIVIA DOMINIQUE
23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — “You don’t look sick.”
If I had a penny for every time I heard that state- ment, I would be a millionaire!
But, I am sick. I have Systemic Lupus Erythema- tosus, an autoimmune disease, which mistakenly attacks healthy tissues. It can affect the skin, joints, brain and other organs. In my case, it is attacking my kidneys.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, I am the perfect target for a disease such as this. I am a 26-year-old black woman and one of five million people to develop a form of lupus. It’s unknown as to why women of color are three times more likely to develop lupus than Caucasians, but anyone, male or female, can fall victim.
I’m the type of person who hates to be blindsided, so being diagnosed with a chronic illness at 25, definitely caught me by surprise. This chapter of my life took a turn for the worse and I never saw it coming. I mean, what normal, healthy woman in her 20s would think she’d be considered disabled at such a young age?
I’ve always thought that I should be out in the world, living freely, and enjoying the things that others do. Instead, I find myself watching others do
just that and me just trying to keep up.
For most people, living with a chronic illness seems like the hard part, but I say being diag- nosed is the worst. It’s sort of like the movies when someone is being diagnosed with cancer. Words are muffled, time slows down, everything is blurry, and it feels like your world has been completely flipped. The summer of 2016, before I was diagnosed, I was on my first deployment to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. I developed a throbbing and aching pain in my hips within the first week of touching down. Although it was difficult to walk, I thought noth- ing of it and continued to push through the pain. I disregarded the symptoms and continued to do my job for almost a month until I became seriously ill. It was my day off, and, just like others who de- ploy and work 12-or-more-hour days, I was in bed all day. For me, it was not because I wanted to, but because I was unable to move. Every joint in my body was in excruciating pain and swollen, and I had a high fever. After being in bed in agony for more than 20 hours, I found the strength to make it to the base hospital. I was medically evacuated to Germany where I was diagnosed with lupus. My first question to the doctor was, “How do we fix this?” Unfortunately, you don’t ‘fix’ a chronic illness. You learn to adapt and live with it. A part of that is telling your closest friends and family. You may get a sympathetic response such as “Get well soon,” or a compassionate, “You’ll get through this.” Or,
you may get an ignorant response such as, “Can you catch it?” But, you have to remember, this is not only new to you, but to them as well.
Your life changes completely. You become unreli- able to those who need you because who knows if you’ll be able to get out of bed the next morning. Your body is no longer yours.
Lupus is considered the invisible disease. Some- one, whose symptoms are not as severe, may appear as if everything is fine, when in all actuality, the individual is fighting symptoms such as chronic fatigue, joint aches, pains, and swelling. It’s not so invisible for those who hide from the sun and its rays that tattoo their skin with heat rashes.
People say, “At least you don’t have cancer,” but cancer has treatments and can be cured. My lupus is here to stay. Although my symptoms can lessen, I maintain the disease. I will live with it for the rest of my life. I compare it to my shadow. Even on your best days, it’s lurking behind you, ready to strike at any moment.
Many people ask how I fight the fight. I tell them you just have to do it. You force yourself to get up. You refuse to let it get to you. You may cry, curse and feel like giving up, but you don’t. That’s how I’ve done it and will continue to do so.
Lupus is only a chapter in my book, not my whole story.
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