JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
During a July 31 virtual ceremony, 34 joint military and civilian leaders, as well as a Gold Star spouse, graduated from the Virtual 360° Leaders Course, a two-week, resiliency-based course sponsored by the 502nd Air Base Wing.
Col. David Trotter, 502d Air Base Wing vice commander and Joint Base San Antonio deputy commander, officiated the ceremony.
Due to COVID-19, the course was held virtually July 20-31 and provided a holistic, integrative resiliency approach designed to address every aspect of a leader’s well-being. Topics focused on the mind, body, spirit, relationships and finances. The course motto is “Skills For Leaders, Skills For Life.”
“I liken this course to land navigation,” Trotter said during his remarks. “I’m a Ranger, been in the Ranger Regiment, spent all my time in the Army doing light infantry kinds of things. What we do in the Army is give you a map and a compass and you just kind of find your way. This course is designed to be your map and your compass so that you can find your way, and more importantly, you can help others do the same.”
The Virtual 360° Leaders Course team is staffed with subject matter experts in diverse fields, most of whom possess military experience as well.
“Our team of mentors is dedicated to serving and healing, and we create a unique environment where leaders can gather to renew their minds, fine-tune their bodies, and sharpen their leadership skills,” said retired Army Brig. Gen. Steve Salazar, co-founder and Leaders Course 360° program executive.
“The course is both a psychological health intervention and a prevention program that provides leaders with the skills and resources necessary to restore and enhance their own psychological readiness, resilience, physical fitness, nutritional status, spiritual health, and relationships,” Salazar said. “It also equips them to more effectively lead and support their colleagues and subordinates
“We also provide access to care for those who may not otherwise seek or receive care, in a safe environment without stigma,” said retired Army Col. Mary Lopez, Ph.D., co-founder and Leaders Course 360° program director.
Each day kicked off with an hour-long yoga session, then participants were led into sharing what Salazar called “small wins.” Students were encouraged to openly share something positive or something they implemented from the course.
“This was a highlight of the course for me because I like to focus on growth mindset,” said Dr. Aaron Moffett, a JBSA-Randolph community support coordinator who attended the course. “It was a great two weeks where we applied the resiliency skills taught each day to our daily lives. It also gave us practice in the skills before we teach the skills or lead others, plus, it provided a new community to share our wins with.”
After sharing their wins, the team of mentors and students immersed themselves in three hours of dynamic course material, candid discussions, and practical exercises.
Each afternoon, students attended deep-dives into specialty topics such as entrepreneurship, sleep, and functional medicine, and also met for one-on-one sessions via video chat with mentors specializing in spirituality, finances, physical therapy, and psychology.
Participants’ spouses, partners or family members were also invited to the course and could also participate in the one-on-one sessions.
Over 10 days, the Leaders Course 360° mentors facilitated discussions and practical exercises about self-care, stress and anger management, biofeedback, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, humor and health, spirituality, couples and parent-child communication, conflict resolution, sex and relationships, journaling, and sleep.
The course also provided insight into sexual assault and domestic violence, financial management, post-traumatic stress, suicide prevention, and alcohol management. In addition to mental fitness, the course also emphasized physical fitness, injury prevention, pain management, and nutrition.
“This course should be mandatory for all leaders, in my personal opinion,” said Army Staff Sgt. Sarah Aschenbrenner, a victim advocate for the 264th Medical Battalion at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. “I wish I had knowledge of this course in 2015 because I personally and professionally needed this in my life then! Nevertheless, I feel very blessed to have attended the course. We learned a lot about self-care, which is one thing we tend to neglect even though we need it the most. Recognizing our own needs enables us to recognize other’s needs.”
With each new lesson, the mentors encouraged students to remember their new tools and stow them away in their mental rucksack for later use, and during the graduation ceremony, Salazar reminded them of this.
“Over the last two weeks, you spent time with our team of mentors as we unloaded some of the junk out of your rucksack and tried to refill it with skills for leaders and skills for life,” he said.
On the final day of the course, students participated in an exercise called the “Fish Bowl” in which they could take turns sharing a difficult time and the tools they used to navigate it.
“The Leaders Course 360° mentors created an emotionally safe learning environment, and I admire everyone who was brave enough to share in the Fish Bowl,” said Maj. Stacie Shafran, a public affairs officer at the Air Force Personnel Center. “This course focused on healing, and even though it’s tough to share personal struggles, as a leader it’s important to demonstrate this courage to those around you,”
In 2009, Shafran experienced a traumatic loss on deployment when four of her teammates were killed.
“I’ve spent many years alone in my thoughts about what happened to them and rarely talked about it,” she said. “Now, I’m learning it’s ok to turn something so negative into a positive.
“Mary Lopez and the rest of the mentors helped me realize this over the past two weeks, and I’m grateful they helped me take some of the pressure off of myself,” she said. “To anyone thinking about taking this course, you’re basically guaranteed to finish it feeling better than you can imagine.”
During graduation, Salazar announced the names of two recipients of the Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Quintana Leadership Award. Quintana was part of the first Leaders Course 360° in Germany and was killed the following year while on deployment in Afghanistan in 2011.
“For the first time in 10 years, the class voted for two leaders they would follow even if they didn’t have to,” Salazar said. “These people embodied the core tenets and values of what it means to serve in our military, whether as a civilian or uniformed member.”
The awards were presented to Shafran and Shirley Bratton, a JBSA-Fort Sam Houston community support coordinator and resiliency advisor. Quintana’s wife, Nilda, and young daughter were present for the announcement made in honor of their loved one.
For more information about upcoming Leaders Course 360° sessions, call 210-808-4120 or go to http://www.jbsa.mil/Resources/Resiliency.
(Editor’s note: The mention of non-federal organizations is simply informational and not intended to imply endorsement by the U.S. Government, the DOD, or the U.S. Air Force.)