Making a difference

By LACW Simone Liebelt

Personnel explore ideas for the Air Force’s future at the Sydney Leading Edge Team seminar.

MINIMISING layers of command, basing career progression on competency and not rank, the use of wristwatch computers, and teaming robots with humans to enhance capabilities.

These were among scores of suggestions from participants in the recent Canberra Leading Edge Team (LET) seminar.

Like others who attended the seminar I was there to “make a difference” to the Air Force of tomorrow, but what did that actually mean and who was going to want to hear what I had to say?

Sitting in a room with 19 other plain-clothed Air Force participants, I listened with interest as the Deputy Director of the Cultural Alignment Team, Wing Commander Greg Taylor, posed a simple question: “The Air Force is currently building a house for the future. Is this the house that you will want to live in?”

I quickly realised that it made no difference that I was a Leading Aircraftwoman photographer; just as it made no difference that the person sitting next to me was a Squadron Leader engineer. Regardless of rank or specialisation, the Air Force was interested in what we all had to say.

It may sound corny, but I felt privileged to be there and was excited at the prospect of making a contribution to the future of Air Force. After all, how many opportunities do junior members get to “make a difference”?

Our workshop, the first in a series of four, began with exercises and presentations in effective listening techniques and critical thinking processes.

This was followed by two days of intense dialogue sessions, where we aimed to design the house we wanted to live in by 2020.

In the context of people, doctrine, organisation and technology, we looked at where we are now and what we need to overcome or leverage in the next 15 years to achieve our ideal Air Force.

By the end, we all felt mentally drained, but were equally proud of our efforts in achieving the set aim - to present a comprehensive list of ideas and observations to members of the Senior Leadership Team for their consideration and implementation.

The LET initiative, a joint venture between Air Force People Capability and the Aerospace Development Branch, has conducted a series of regional workshops in Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide, with the last to be held in Brisbane next week.

At the end of the series, information from each workshop will be combined to form an innovative story for our Future Aerospace Force.

I look forward to seeing where this story takes us – and I wouldn’t mind one of those wristwatch computers if they are ever introduced.

For more information on Air Force People Capability, personnel with intranet access can visit http://intranet.defence.gov.au/RaafWeb/Sites/AFPC/

 

.