Today's airmen are not carbon copies of yesterday's Air Force. We come with different perspectives and an abundance of innovative ideas. Yes, we lack military experience. Yes, some of our ideas are not practical in a military environment. However, when energetic airmen are stifled and not given an opportunity to shine and show intelligence, the Air Force is being cheated out of a valuable resource.
Effective leaders bridge the experience gap by being mentors.
When the time is taken to empower airmen, the military benefits from unexpected results. Four members of the team were junior enlisted from the 60th Aerial Port Squadron. Their contributions helped improve the government bill of lading process for the squadron's freight management section. A senior airman from Eglin AFB, Fla., received the 1998 Air Force Submitter of the Year award. It is the most prestigious award associated with the IDEA program.