Moving up, employee enhancement graduates new class Published March 12, 2009 By Howdy Stout Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Nearly 60 graduates of the Employee Enhancement Program are taking their leadership training experience back to the workplace following their graduation this week. The year-long program is designed to give workers at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center basic leadership skills and a broader view of activities at Tinker Air Force Base. The course consists of classroom work, briefings and tours on different aspects of Tinker and how those activities support the Air Force. "It's just one of the tools we have to help people understand Tinker Air Force Base and the Air Force," explained John Over, executive director of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. "Tinker Air Force Base is big business." Speaking at the graduation ceremony March 9, Mr. Over said the program is a good way for employees to become leaders by looking outside of their job specialty to see how what they do -- or don't do -- affects the functioning of the base. Greater knowledge promotes greater understanding. "Everything we do requires us to work with other people," Mr. Over said. "Nothing takes place outside the team." The graduates agreed. "I think every one of us enjoyed seeing so much of the base that we wouldn't have otherwise," said James Garland, one of the EEP class leaders. "These are some of the best people I've been around," said fellow class leader Crystal Johnson. "This is a really good program." Mr. Over said the program is a far cry from his initial introduction to Tinker in the early 1980s as a young engineering graduate assigned to the KC-135 tanker program. There was little mentoring and even less awareness of what happened outside his own field, he said. "I spent eight years not really knowing what else went on at Tinker Air Force Base," he said. EEP, however, gives employees a better understanding of their role in the work at Tinker and how that work supports the Air Force as a whole. "We've come a long way in how we develop our people," Mr. Over said. "We are much better." The course also gives participants experience in being leaders regardless of their job function. "Leadership is not synonymous with being a manager or supervisor," he said. "You can be a leader in your workplace. Anybody can." Mr. Over encouraged the graduates to build on their year-long training and to share their lessons with those around them. He also congratulated the graduates on the hard work needed to finish the program. "You should be proud of yourselves," he said, "because we are." The next EEP class is due to begin in April.