Devildog 101: Airman completes Corporals Course

by Airmen 1st Class Victor J. Caputo and Jarrod M. Vickers
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

7/31/2013 - MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Joint professional military education is quickly becoming a more common event at many military installations across the Department of Defense.

One Airman here at McConnell Air Force Base decided to follow the joint-route by taking the U.S. Marine Corps Corporals Course as part of her preparation for promotion to staff sergeant.

"They told me there were going to be a lot of classes," said Senior Airman Shalamar Coleman, 22nd Air Refueling Wing knowledge operations manager. "It was going to be two weeks, including weekends, so I thought I was going to be very, very busy. At the same time, I didn't know we were going to be writing papers like we did. It was awesome. I definitely learned a lot."

Coleman spent two weeks working in tandem with Marine corporals from across the nation, learning about Marine traditions, land navigation, guidon etiquette and the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

"There's a lot of practical application that we need to do after each class," she said. "For the operations portion of the class, we had to learn how to do different hand signals, different formations like fire team, squad team formations."

The group was also taught how to hand draw maps of the terrain in order to navigate unfamiliar territory at night, one of Coleman's favorite parts of the course, she said.

The opportunity to participate in MCMAP, which does not have an Air Force equivalent, was not wasted on Coleman.

"It's awesome, I absolutely loved it," said Coleman. "I got to 'belt-up.' They said if I want to keep belting-up, I could actually come back and train with them more, so I will definitely take them up on that."

The course did offer her many challenges, whether it was managing her time between the Corporals Course and her college classes or keeping pace with the Marines in the physical activities.

A particularly challenging part was a four-mile run with the group's sergeant major.

"It was the first time we did a formation run instead of breaking us off between a slow group and a fast group," she said. "We ran the first mile in about seven minute and 15 seconds and I was like 'Oh no, I can't do this.' So I fell back a little bit and that's when the instructors were like 'Oh, so this is what you're going to do? You better catch up; you better catch up!' So of course I did. I finally caught up and finished the run."

Not only did she overcome the physical training differences of the braches, but she also didn't let the fact she is an Airman and they are all Marines get in the way of the group's training.

"She adjusted to us well, we adjusted to her well," said Marine Corps Corporal Joshua Ellenburg, Corporals Course student. "The rivalry between branches was always there, but it was all fun and games and she held her own well."

Just as Coleman was the lone Airman in a Marine course, a Marine sergeant will soon be enrolled in an Airman Leadership School class here.

Joint enrollement is one of the ways PME instructors are seeking opportunities to diversify each Airman's education, training and career.

"If any Airman has the opportunity to take this course I highly encourage it," said Coleman. "It's something that you'll never be able to experience in your lifetime again. How many times are you able to go to a Corporals Course?"