Dover Airmen attend AFA conference

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Zoe M. Wockenfuss
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  A group of about 20 Airmen attended each day of the three-day Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference Sept. 17-19, 2018, in National Harbor, Maryland.

The ASC Conference is a professional development conference that offers an opportunity for Department of Defense personnel to participate in forums, speeches, seminars and workshops.

“AFA, to me, is an opportunity for Airmen to come and hear from our senior leadership straight on,” said Col. Joel Safranek, 436th Airlift Wing commander. “There are a lot of times in today’s day in age with technology that you can YouTube the discussions after the fact, but you’re not a part of it. You don’t get to ask the questions. You don’t get to see the context real time. You don’t get to have the conversations in the hallway after the briefings are done, but this is a chance for you to actually interact.”

The conference featured panel discussions with Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright, Air Mobility Command Commander Gen. Maryanne Miller and many other major command commanders. During these panels, key Air Force leaders discussed the future of the Air Force, the national pilot shortage and issues affecting today’s Airmen. In addition to panel discussions, Dover Airmen were able to walk around the technology exhibition, experience virtual reality headsets and test pilot simulators.

“It’s an opportunity for younger Airmen to come and understand some of the thought processes of the big ideas, the concepts and the things going on in our Air Force,” said Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Green, 436th Airlift Wing command chief. “The ability for the senior leaders to come together at an event like this and break it down to a more basic level is unique. Being the first time coming here, I didn’t know what to expect. Being here now, it’s pretty unique to see the demographics of our senior enlisted leaders and senior officers in today’s Air Force and how they’re able to give the message of what we’re doing and how we’re moving forward for this next fight.”

Dover Airmen had the chance to network with leaders across the Air Force, whether they were junior enlisted Airmen or company grade officers. Walking the hallways between sessions allowed time to mingle and exchange stories with Airmen from different careers and commands. Some even met the chief master sergeant of the Air Force.

To maximize participation, Team Dover leaders sent different Airmen to each day of the conference.

“The opportunity to bring different Airmen out each day was good and bad,” Green said. “In some ways I wanted our Airmen to see all three days, but also being able to share the experience instead with about 20 Airmen per day. It was unique for different individuals throughout Dover to get this experience. I really liked that we brought out different personnel so we can see what’s going on here at AFA.”