NCO prepares future leaders Published May 31, 2012 By Senior Airman Joe Yanik 512th Airlift Wing DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Staff Sgt. Bree Davis, a newcomer to the 512th Airlift Wing Operations Group Intelligence section, enjoys activities that challenge her to grow, both professionally and personally. In 2010, the Hawaii native helped build a school house for children in Ghana. She returned to Africa last December to climb 19,341-foot Mount Kilimanjaro and she's completing a master's degree in diplomacy and military studies. Davis also serves as a facilitator for the Air Force Reserve Command's NCO Leadership Development program. She was drawn to becoming a facilitator because of her experience as a student of the course two years ago. "I learned a great deal about myself and I enjoyed the course very much," she said. At least four times a year, she travels to various Air Force bases that host the leadership program. Her responsibility as facilitator is to assist in providing leadership training to NCOs from all military branches and to senior airmen who've been selected for promotion to staff sergeant. She leads class discussion and group activities in accordance with the curriculum's themes of leadership: team building, the virtue of integrity, courage in decision-making and foundations of leadership. "The class doesn't belong to the civilian instructors or facilitators, it belongs to the class," Davis said. "Students take the principle role in class discussion. A good facilitator must be flexible and less concerned about what students know, and more curious about why they believe something or why it's important." Part of the course curriculum is reviewing topics such as Air Force history, traditions and prominent Airmen, but a great deal of the time is dedicated to case studies, team-building and role-playing exercises. In one, teams compete to build the highest tower using only balloons and tape. Senior Airman Jamie Gill, 512th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron communications navigation specialist, completed the Leadership Development Program here in April and said Davis made the class material fun. "She did well at role-playing as a problem Airman who was out of regulations and who lacked overall discipline," Gill said. Davis said case studies and role-playing create scenarios that challenge the students' ability to deal compassionately with subordinates and co-workers. Situations present ethical dilemmas to provoke strong opinions among students about how to resolve them. "You have to be on your toes because class dynamics are different and students' personalities vary," Davis said. "You could use these differences as an advantage for presenting challenges to students. You can't be shy." Of 22 applicants who began the facilitator selection course with Davis in February 2011, she and 11 others passed the evaluation. During the 5-day selection course, applicants are evaluated for having the right personality, discipline and ability to be a facilitator. "[It's] difficult because the selection course instructors, similar to basic military training instructors, want to test your ability to endure high stress environments," Davis said. "Yet, you need to remain positive and comfortable being in front of a group, particularly when working with co-facilitators." Davis said there are no ribbons or medals awarded to those who complete the facilitator selection course; she received only a curriculum binder. Besides seeing it as a new challenge for growth, she said her motivation to help came from a desire to contribute to a positive learning experience for her peers. "By becoming a facilitator, I wanted to give back to the Air Force what I took away as a student," Davis said. "I'll continue facilitating as long as they'll let me."