ALS prepares Airmen for the future

Published March 6, 2009
By Howdy Stout
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Learning to lead is a challenge for anyone in any profession.

The Air Force makes the challenge a little easier with the Airman Leadership School, a service-wide formal training ground for senior airmen and those selected for promotion to staff sergeant.

"Our main goal is teaching about being a (noncommissioned officer), taking care of your Airmen and being a leader," said Master Sgt. Jim Peters, commandant of Tinker's ALS.

ALS is the first educational step to becoming an NCO, Sergeant Peters said. Those earmarked for promotion to staff sergeant must successfully complete the course, which is also open to senior airmen with more than 48 months of service who may be in a supervisory role of other Airmen.

During the course, students learn the fundamentals of professional military leadership, supervisory communications and supervision of Airmen. The school normally handles up to seven classes per year, with each class undergoing an intense 24-day, 192-hour learning experience. The school is currently in session with a class expected to graduate March 19.

Although the course is intense, the approach to learning is different than in basic training or even a college campus.

"Primarily the lectures are presented in a guided discussion format," explained Sergeant Peters.

Instructors facilitate discussion among class members, who are encouraged to draw on and share their own experiences with their colleagues. Classes are intentionally organized so that students from differing specialties and backgrounds are placed together. That ability to share diverse experiences is key to the success of the school.

"We involve everyone to the best of our ability," said Tech. Sgt. Drue Lynch, senior instructor at the ALS. "And they feel more inclined to share when you share."

Sergeant Lynch, an instructor at the school for the last two-and-a-half years, said one of the reasons he became an instructor is because he wanted to make a difference and to show that being in the Air Force is more than just a job.

As supervisors, Sergeant Lynch said, NCOs have the ability to set the tone for an Airman's experience in the Air Force and can often "make or break" a new Airman's attitude. The reward as an instructor, he said, comes when he sees future NCOs recapture the commitment they had as new Airmen.

"I like it when they change their outlook," Sergeant Lynch said. "When they've lost their passion and they find it again, when they believe they can make a difference, because they can."

As an instructor, Sergeant Peters said he has the ability to instruct -- and positively influence -- up to 1,200 Airmen in the course of his tenure at the school. The results of that teaching legacy are endless, he said.

"You never know where the next chief master sergeant of the Air Force might come from," he added.

Nearly 80 ALS facilities were created throughout the service following restructuring of the enlisted force in the early 1990s. These changes eliminated the "buck" sergeant rank, which shared the same E-4 rating and pay-grade as a senior airman but with supervisory duties. With these changes, the ALS replaced the Noncommissioned Officer Preparatory Course.

"Tinker is one of the bigger schools," said Sergeant Peters. "We graduate anywhere from 270 students to well over 300 per year."

For many, ALS is the first step in obtaining an associate or higher degree. Successful completion of the course includes 10 hours of credit for the Community College of the Air Force.

Academics aside, Sergeant Peters said the school gives students the basics of being leaders.

"The school is here to serve a purpose," he said. "We give them the foundation."