JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
"Each one of us has a desire and passion to teach tomorrow's leaders," said Tech. Sgt. Jamie Kienholz, NCO in charge at the Joint Base San Antonio Airman Leadership School at JBSA-Lackland. "When we see that we have impacted at least one Airman, we know we have done our job."
Designated as a developmental special duty position in 2013, ALS instructors embody the developmental special dutes definition as they "develop the world's greatest Airmen through leadership," according to the Personnel Services Delivery Memorandum 13-62.
ALS is an enlisted Airman's first level of professional military education. As explained in the Professional Development Guide, "The mission of ALS is to prepare senior airmen to be professional, war-fighting Airmen able to supervise and lead Air Force teams to support the employment of air, space and cyberspace power."
Kienholz sees her instructor position as an opportunity to give back.
"I felt it was my duty to pay it forward," Kienholz said. "I owe it to the NCOs that helped me when I needed it most."
Kienholz says that being selected as an instructor was the easy part. The tough part was going through the initial qualification process to become a certified instructor.
"You are mentally fatigued by the second week of training," Kienholz said. "You have to learn to be a proficient teacher, know all student material, know and comprehend your lesson plans, learn the ins and outs of the school house, study the guidance from the Barnes Center and conduct training sessions with your trainer. That is a typical duty day for a new instructor while in training status."
When the process began, DSDs changed from a volunteer position to a nominative one.
"The change to DSDs was definitely the right move to make," said Master Sgt. John Chacon, JBSA ALS commandant. "Since the process has been streamlined and applicants are vetted through their squadrons, groups, wings and through the Air Force Personnel Center, we are truly getting the best-of-the-best Airmen."
Chacon said the path to getting the best Airmen starts with senior leaders.
"Leaders need to get out from behind their desks and get to know their people," Chacon said. "Leaders need to know which Airmen are coming in early, staying late and embodying the core values. They should start grooming those Airmen for ALS instructor duties early. It all starts at the supervisor level."
After Airmen are vetted through AFPC, Chacon said he and Kienholz are able to hand-select NCOs to fill instructor positions. They both agree that the Airmen coming through the DSD process are among the best.
"I think the DSD is a great process," Kienholz said. "We have four new instructors that were hired through this process and they are all very sharp and motivated NCOs."
Having served as NCOIC for the past year, Kienholz said the rigors of instructor duty come with great reward.
"The most rewarding parts about being an instructor are the moments when you have former students excelling in their careers or sending a simple 'Thank you' email for something you taught them," Kienholz said. "That is why we do our job. We don't do it for accolades, enlisted performance report bullets, or to make rank."
Airmen interested in finding out more information on ALS instructor duty or any other DSD position should search for DSD on their myPers website located on the Air Force Portal.
(Editor's note: This article is part of a series on developmental special duties.)