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

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December 2018 Desert Lightning News www.aerotechnews.com/davis-monthanafb
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Eyes wide open: The time we saved a life
by Airman 1st Class KATRINA WALTERS
90th Missile Wing
F. E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. — As Airmen, we are constantly preparing to be ready for the worst days of our lives. We live by a fit-to-fight ethos and maintain readiness for the most extreme of emergency situations. Sometimes, though, we realize we aren’t just prepared to fight for our lives, we remember that we are trained to fight for every free life in the United States.
My night came on Aug. 28, 2018. I found myself in San Antonio, Texas, with a group of Airmen the 90th Missile Wing had dubbed the best-of-the-best. We were attending the annual Air Force Sergeants Association Conference and Professional Airman’s Conference.
During the day we heard from some of the most renowned members of the Armed Forces and at night we built comradery and explored San Antonio as a group. As most know from graduating Basic Military Training, San Antonio has an enticing night life surrounding the River Walk. Locals and tourists label the River Walk as the “place to be” and a “must-see.”
I looked at my phone, and saw the time was nearly 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Not used to staying out this late, I began to weigh the pros and cons of returning to my hotel due to the early morning ahead of us. I turned to my friend, Airman 1st Class Nicole Reed, and saw she was exchanging stories with a woman who was making the transition from enlisted to officer and decided the lack of sleep would be worth the memories made.
Reed, Master Sgt. Jason Myers and I had all arrived together and were stand- ing on the second story balcony of Howl at the Moon, a piano bar, overlooking the River Walk. We were socializing, laughing and enjoying ourselves while meeting other Airmen who were also attending the conference.
The atmosphere of the night was immediately changed as a woman began to point and scream over the side of the balcony, “She’s being raped!”
As soon as the words left the woman’s mouth I turned and reached for the door. I did not know who she was talking about or where the incident was happening, but I knew it was in the vicinity of the River Walk and that someone needed help.
I ran through the door and right in front of me was Tech. Sgt. Wil Carrico. Carrico is the ideal hero, at 6’6” with a hobby of volunteer firefighting. It is in his heart
and nature to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
We ran through the bar, down two flights of stairs, and found ourselves on the
River Walk to no avail. As we searched I could hear Reed giving direct instruc- tion on the balcony to call the police, keeping everyone calm and shouting to the perpetrator that the authorities were being contacted.
I looked toward the balcony at the sound of Myers voice and he began to give us directions on the location of the incident, allowing us to arrive on the scene.
As I ran up to the assault, I noted there was a group of bystanders around two men in a physical altercation. I scanned the crowd and identified the victim of the alleged sexual assault; she was easily identifiable because she was disheveled and leaning into another woman who seemed uncomfortable.
I approached and asked the uncomfortable bystander if she was friends with the woman leaning on her. When she replied “No,” I quickly took control of the intoxicated victim by telling the bystander to, “Give her to me.”
I laid the victim down over my lap and held her so she could look at me. I asked her if she had an ID and a man from the crowd came forward with her wallet and produced her military common access card. From her military identification, she was identified as a lieutenant in the Navy and my perception of time slowed to almost complete stillness.
I looked in the eyes of the naval officer laying on my lap, unable to speak or keep her eyes open. Suddenly, I understood every second of training, every weekend safety briefing, all the deployment and weapons training and what it means to be fit-to-fight.
After I finished asking her questions and receiving “yes” and “no” head nods, she began to cry and said, “Please don’t rape me.” I began to comfort her and promised her that no one was going to hurt her while we were on the scene and that she would get the help she needed.
When I finally looked up, she and I were alone on the ground, surrounded by police tape and the local authorities were taking control of the situation. In the next moments, I answered police questions about the incident, and maintained control of the victim and mediated between her and the police until the ambulance arrived and her parents were located.
Even at this moment, none of my fellow Airmen that responded to the scene
See tiMe, Page 12
Effective leaders touch heart before asking for a hand
by Chief Master Sgt. ROCHELLE HEMINGWAY
56th Medical Group
Over the past few weeks, I have been involved with conversations that were mostly centered on how to deal with personnel concerns. One of the first questions I ask is how well is your relationship with said person? Do you have one? Is it cordial or is it nonexis- tent? Today, I wanted to share this brief synopsis from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell that I strive to do every single day. Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand
When it comes to working with people, the heart comes before the head. That’s true whether you are com- municating to a stadium full of people, leading a team meeting or trying to relate to your spouse or loved one. For leaders to be effective, they need to connect with people. Why? Because you first have to touch peoples’ hearts before you ask them for a hand. That is the Law of Connection. All great lead- ers and communicators recognize this truth and act on it most instinctively. You can’t move people to action unless you first move them with emotion.
Good leaders work at connecting with others all the time, whether they are communicating to an entire organi- zation or working with a single individ-
ual. The stronger the relationship you form with followers, the greater the connection you forge — and the more likely those followers will be to want to help you. An excellent example of a leader who was able to connect with both audiences and individuals was President Ronald Reagan. His ability to develop rapport with an audience is reflected in the nickname he received as president: the Great Communicator. But he also had the ability to touch the hearts of the individuals close to him. He really could have been called the Great Connector.
One key to connecting with others is recognizing that even in a group, you have to relate to people as individu- als. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf said, “I have seen competent leaders who stood in front of a platoon and all they saw was a platoon. But great leaders stand in front of a platoon and see it as forty-four individuals, each of whom has aspirations, each of whom wants to live, each of whom wants to do good.”
Some leaders have problems with the Law of Connection because they believe that connecting is the responsi- bility of the followers. This is especially true of positional leaders. They often think, “I’m the boss. I have the position. These are my employees. Let them come to me.” But successful leaders who obey the Law of Connection are always initiators. They take the first
step with others and then continue the effort to build relationships. That’s not always easy, but it’s important to the success of the organization. A leader has to do it, no matter how many ob- stacles there might be.
So how do I connect with people? On most days, I swing through the MDG to do “drive-bys.” This is an opportunity for me to check on people, see how they’re doing, and offer assistance or support as needed, and develop stron- ger and better relationships. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I also make myself available, learn peoples’ names and I do a lot of listening. Guidelines to help you connect better as a leader
• Connect with yourself — You must know who you are and have confidence in yourself if you desire to connect with others. Be confident and be yourself. If you don’t believe in who you are and where you want to lead, work on that before doing anything else.
• Communicate with openness and sincerity — People can smell phony a mile away. Legendary NFL coach Bill Walsh observed, “Nothing is more ef- fective than sincere, accurate praise, and nothing is lamer than a cookie- cutter compliment.” Authentic leaders connect.
• Know your audience — When you work with individuals, knowing your
audience means learning peoples’ names, finding out about their histo- ries, knowing their dreams. You want to speak to what they care about, not just what you care about.
• Live your message — Practice what you preach. That’s where cred- ibility comes from.
• Go to where they are — Be attuned to others’ culture, background, educa- tion and so on. Adapt to others; don’t expect people to adapt to you.
• Focus on them, not yourself — Fo- cusing on yourself is the number one problem of ineffective leaders. You will always connect faster when your focus is not on yourself.
• Believe in your people — People’s opinion of us has less to do with what they see in us than it does with what we can help them see in themselves. Communicate with people because you believe they have value.
Don’t ever underestimate the im- portance of building relational bridges between yourself and the people you lead. There’s an old saying, “To lead yourself, use your head; to lead others, use your heart.” That’s the nature of the Law of Connection. Always touch a person’s heart before you ask them for a hand. Know and like who you are, walk slowly through a crowd and make connections with people and learn to be a good communicator.
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