JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
“Service before self” is one of the Air Force’s core values
and it is exemplified daily by organizations that allow officers and enlisted
Airmen alike to grow as leaders and serve their base and local communities.
At Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, one of those
organizations is the Rising 5/6 for technical sergeants, staff sergeants and
staff sergeant-selects, the middle tier of enlisted members who benefit from
the leadership of senior NCOs and serve as role models for Airmen at grades E-4
and below.
“The Rising 5/6 provides professional development
opportunities, mentoring and mentorship and camaraderie for NCOs,” Staff Sgt.
Aaron Franklin, JBSA-Randolph Rising 5/6 president, said.
Rising 5/6 meetings, which are conducted at 10 a.m. every
third Thursday at the Kendrick Club, feature guest speakers who talk about
professional development and include discussions about volunteer and leadership
opportunities at JBSA-Randolph and in local communities, Franklin said.
“With guest speakers, we cover an array of things to put in
our NCO tool kits,” he said. “We hear from military training instructors,
military training leaders, recruiters, financial advisers, promotion and
evaluation experts and others. That’s information you can’t get anywhere else.”
Rising 5/6 members participate in volunteer opportunities
such as Armed Forces Against Drunk Driving and Meals on Wheels, and provide
leadership through the NCO and Airman Professional Enhancement Seminars,
Franklin said.
“We brief Airmen and NCOs about what it’s like to lead and
manage a professional organization and what it means to the base and
community,” he said. “We also discuss networking opportunities and career
development.”
The Rising 5/6 also sponsors staff sergeant and technical
sergeant promotion social events and provides a luncheon for Airmen at the
First Term Airmen Center the day before their graduation.
“We feed the incoming Airmen and mentor them on the Air
Force experience,” he said.
A suggestion from JBSA-Randolph’s Top 3, an organization for
senior NCOs, has led to a change in the Rising 5/6’s membership structure, one
that will give active members more of a voice in the organization, Franklin
said.
The organization now has voting members, who are dues-paying
members, and nonvoting members.
“Voting members can run for office and vote on issues
brought to the council,” he said. “Nonvoting members can still lead mentoring
and volunteer opportunities and receive the same information as voting
members.”
Another enhancement to the Rising 5/6 is the addition of
three committees, Franklin said. The six members of those committees join the
president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and public relations and
special programs officers on the organization’s executive council.
“We just elected six new council members,” Franklin said.
“Two each belong to the ways and means, mentoring and community outreach
committees. They will make it easier for us to support ourselves as a
professional organization, mentor members of the Team Randolph Airmen’s Council
and branch out further in the base and community.”
Tech. Sgt. Heath Roberts, Rising 5/6 vice president, said
the executive council’s expansion “opens up more opportunities for NCOs to hone
their skills as leaders, supervisors, managers and mentors, and provides
dedicated committees focused on our members’ professional development.”
Franklin said the Rising 5/6 is a self-sustaining
organization that raises funds through dues and activities such as doughnut and
cookie sales and wrapping gifts at the JBSA-Randolph Exchange during the
holiday season. Organization members operated a food booth at the 2015 JBSA Air
Show and Open House and recently approved the sale of Rising 5/6 T-shirts.
Franklin said he has benefited by membership in the Rising
5/6 through networking opportunities, establishing long-lasting friendships and
growing as an NCO and mentor.
“I’ve met so many people just by being involved in the
Rising 5/6, and I’ve learned quite a bit from other NCOs,” he said.
Franklin, who previously served the Rising 5/6 as vice
president, said he became more active in the organization two years ago when he
“stepped out of his comfort zone” to suggest an awards program for Airmen that
was soon adopted.
Roberts said membership in the Rising 5/6 is a “great
opportunity for NCOs to aid their development as leaders, supervisors and
mentors.
“JBSA-Randolph is a unique assignment because you have some
directorates that may have very few NCOs, but many senior NCOs and officers,”
he said. “With the fact that some NCOs may not supervise anyone, there is
concern that some things in their toolbox may degrade over time. We recognize
this and try to offer information, briefings and tools to keep that ability
fresh and ready for future use.”
Franklin said staff sergeant-selects or NCOs interested in
joining the JBSA-Randolph Rising 5/6 can reach out to an executive council
member or attend a meeting.