United States Air Force Academy - Polaris Yearbook (Colorado Springs, CO)

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C0. Top: A squadron prepares to march during the noon meal formation. Bottom: C3C Kevin Gore is ready to perform his duty as Guidon Bearer. Training con L Mffw academic year. One of the proposals being considered now is the holding of certain group presentations at night, and setting aside the morning training period as compensatory time, as the academic departments do now. Asked about the perceived lack of respect for authority, and lack of discipline on the part of the Class of ' 84, the Major agrees that a serious problem exists, but points out that the Class of ' 82, ' 81, and ' 80 had approximately the same comment about the Class of ' 83 this time last year. He addresses out the common misperception that the professional military training system is meant to undermine the fourthclass system and points out the distinction between what he calls big T and little t training. Spit Polish mil?, ' ' ' , '

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might be helpful. The cadet on the opposite end of the spectrum who is organized to the hilt, but cannot work well with others may benefit from a different kind of workshop. Squadron Training Officers, similar to Squadron Faculty Offfcers and Squadron Professional Ethics Officers, will be the primary training advisor in the squadron working with cadets to develop these desired skills. This is the way that it ' s done in the real Air Force, says Maj. Lindberg, and there ' s no doubt in anybody ' s mind that the money is well spent. Nonetheless, in the past few months several problems have sur- faced. For example, Maj. Lindberg admits, One of our biggest weak- nesses was looking at large group meetings. The trend in ' 81- ' 82 will be toward small classroom size groups in which discussion is made possible and the environment is improved. Morning training in general has proven to be a fairly ineffective time of the day. Contrary to popular belief, the new schedule of calls was not the brainchild of the people who brought you the in-flight guide and 50-1. We pointed out that we needed to set aside a time when all cadets could be present for training. One of our suggestions was a military training period sometime in the middle of the day, but the details couldn ' t be worked out in time for the start of the Next year first and secondclass cadets will also become involved in formal training programs and will concentrate on leadership and man- agement skill development and ap- plication. The first class will, to a certain extent, break away from the idea that everyone has to have the same kind of training. Military educa- tion will be tailored to the individual ' s needs and desires through a series of developmental workshops taken at the individual ' s or the AOC ' s option. The idea will be to sharpen leadership management tools in those specific areas where a cadet is weakest. For example, if a cadet is a terrific leader, able to get the squadron to follow cheerfully up San Juan Hill or anywhere else they ' re led, but cannot seem to organize his her efforts, a management workshop A focus on one out of 20 squadrons involved in the Friday afternoon retreat.

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C1C Karl Jagstadt commands his squadron, CS-35. The thing CWIT is concerned with is big ' T ' professional military training — the knowledge and skills development which have been cen- tralized and standardized. This should be seen as separate from little ' t ' training — the fourthclass system, SAMI ' s, IRI ' s, falling in on the marble strips, greeting, etc. The stress was taken out of big ' T ' training to produce a proper learning environ- ment. The Cadet Wing assumed that no stress was allowed in the fourth- class system, which has discouraged cadets from insisting that fourthclass- men buckle down. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and this is the biggest problem we have had to handle. A final major complaint by some cadets has been the perceived lack of cadet input into a system which they have the responsibility of implement- ing. What many people do not realize is that CWIT seeks feedback by meeting at least once a week with the Cadet Wing and Group Training Officers and once a month with Squadron Training Sergeants and Training Officers. Additionally, Maj. Lindberg is willing and eager to visit squadrons to discuss the system with anyone, at anytime. Many squadrons have taken C2C Heather Wilson shouts her commands. m Spit Polish