WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- In January, the 655th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing hosted their first ever 655th ISR Wing Flight Commander Course. The course was more than two years in the planning and making after several delays due to scheduling and pandemic conflicts.
Eight Airman from across the wing, including two instructor candidates attended the course at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
The four-day course was built with a student-centered approach and taught in a non-attributional environment. Students participated in daily engagement exercises to maximize knowledge retention to bring back to their squadrons.
Throughout the course, students explored a wide range of topics including organizational structure and the roles and responsibilities of a flight commander, communication skills as a leader, ethical leadership, performance management, and personnel management.
The course concluded with a wing staff panel capstone event that allowed students to ask questions and expand on what they had learned throughout the week while interacting with wing staff subject matter experts to help cement the lesson materials with dynamic discussion.
“One of the best aspects of the course was that students came in with different levels of leadership experience from different units with different missions sets and different challenges that they face as leaders,” said Capt. Julie Kassner, 655th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group executive officer and course instructor. “It was awesome that this group of flight commanders under the 655th ISRW were able to come together for the first time and bring their differences so that they could all learn from each other,” said Kassner.
The course will serve as the first of many as the 655th ISRW is excited to continue the development of the Flight Commander Course, offering multiple classes per year, both in person and virtually, to further professionalize and mold the wing’s future leaders.