USAF EC holds Wingman Day Event

by Capt. Matthew Chism
U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs

12/19/2014 - JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center paused Dec. 16, for a Wingman Day Event to allow staff members time to focus on building relationships and increasing awareness regarding issues facing Airmen.

"Every day is Wingman Day for us here at the EC," said Master Sgt. Osvaldo Freyre, USAF EC Director of Staff non-commissioned officer in charge. "So we are calling this our Wingman Day Event because, this is just a planned opportunity for us to support and learn about one another."

The purpose of Wingman Day is to examine unit issues and create stronger bonds among the total force. Military and civilian team members attended the USAF EC's event, which included an introduction briefing, small group discussions, and ended with a military subject quiz game.

"Today was about building an overall sense of taking care of each other," said Errol Senior, USAF EC telecommunications mechanic. "You're a wingman to a lot of people: your peers, the people you ask for help, those you meet throughout your day. This concept that the military has is built to uplift each other, to say 'I'm by your side.'"

Subject matter experts from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst were brought to the USAF EC to lead the small group sessions between EC staff members. Topics included: Diversity, Terrorism, Effective Communication, and Stress.

"When the planning team met, we looked for topics to focus on as an opportunity to candidly discuss things facing our organization," said Freyre. "Our goal was to make sure we were connecting with young NCO's and Airmen. We continuously asked ourselves, how do we make this event connect with the next generation of leaders? How do we build an environment that lends itself to continuing the conversation into the future?"

SSgt Robert Steinbacher, USAF EC Evaluations and Adverse Actions non-commissioned officer in charge, said that the format increased his awareness and allowed him to gain different approaches for addressing issues facing Airmen.