WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Master Sgt. Rebeccah Stammen, 445th Airlift Wing Resilience Integrator, has a wealth of new information and techniques she can use when mentoring wing Airmen after completing the U.S. Marine Corps Staff NCO Academy recently.
Originally, Stammen was selected as an alternate to attend the seven-week course at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Aug. 9 to Sept. 28. Four weeks before the class start date, the primary fell out, and she was selected to go. She graduated with Academic Excellence by achieving the highest grade point average in the class.
“I loved it,” Stammen said. “It was so much fun. It was so different than the Air Force classes I’m used to. Then there was the physical side of it. We’re not as focused on that, but they were very serious about their physical training.”
Stammen said the course is equivalent to the Air Force Senior NCO Academy. Her class included another Air Force Airman, one person from Zambia, one person from Hungary, and the rest Marines.
“We were in a big class of 71, and we broke up into different flights for different activities,” Stammen added. “There were 12 people in my group. In the morning, we’d spend time in the large class, and then all the activities based on that information we would take back to the small group and then we’d come back to the big group for presentations.”
Stammen said she knew the course was going to be a challenge as soon as she and her classmates arrived, as they had to do the Marines version of their fitness evaluation. If you didn’t pass, you went home.
“I think there was seven people who left that very first day because they didn’t pass the test, Stammen said. “We had PT three days a week on top of the seven weeks of instruction and presentations.”
Stammen said she recommends the course to those interested in gaining a unique perspective on military style and leadership skills. After class, she found it necessary to re-read the material to comprehend the acronyms and information presented fully. She then had to develop her presentations for the Marines and two international students in a way that helped them become more familiar with the Air Force and her career field.
“If I can do it, anybody can do it,” she continued. “The course gives you a different perspective from how we do things here to how other services are doing it and what their focus is. It wasn’t the day-to-day leadership; it was the wargaming and what that looks like and how you prepare yourself for that, both with education and different ways of learning, and how to operate in a joint environment as well as the physical aspects of it.”