AF Negotiation Center of Excellence wins prestigious award

by Senior Airman William Blankenship
42nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

4/30/2014 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala.  -- The Air Force Negotiation Center of Excellence here was awarded the General Counsel's Alternative Dispute Resolution Award for 2013.

The annual award is given to the organization that distinguished itself as the premier unit that most advanced the goals of the Air Force ADR program.

The Air Force NCE accepted the award from Joseph McDade, deputy principle general counsel of the Air Force, during a video teleconference at the Judge Advocate General School here April 30.

"This group has set themselves apart this year and are well deserving of this award," said McDade. "I am pleased to present this award to Dr. [Stefan] Eisen and his team."

In 2013, the organization developed and distributed multiple courses, seminars and curriculum in excess of 400 hours, reaching more than 29,000 students. Those accomplishments led them to earning this award for the second time, the other being in 2010.

"We have been charged with bringing the skillset of adaptive negotiations to the Air Force," said Eisen, the director of the Air Force NCE. "On top of that, the joint community is now using our product in pre-deployment training and other areas where it can assist, which is a great step for our team."

Last year, the NCE separated itself from others in course development, to included original programs such as the Joint Knowledge Online course. They also spearheaded a 10-week continuing education program for Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and a seminar for the Army's Warrant Officer Career College.

"Despite budget cuts and restriction of [temporary dutys], we have been innovative in our ability to conduct seminars around the DOD without physically going to other installations," said Eisen. "We have been able to train others around the globe on how to conduct our courses at their own installations, saving the Air Force large amounts of funds that would have paid for us to be on the road."

While maintaining a consistent workload supporting Air University, the NCE broadens its reach by developing and implementing courseware such as computer simulations, mobile apps and courses for 28 distinct organizations and 145 colleges and universities.

"Looking forward, we want to develop a program that allows non common access card users to take our courses," said Eisen. "Our charge is to reach everyone, to include Air National Guard and Reserve Airmen. We want them to be able to access our curriculum at home. We believe we have the material and concepts. We are just finding the vehicle and platform to make it useful."

Eisen's team consists of Hank Finn, deputy director NCE, Paul Firman and Dave O'Meara.

"We feel proud of our achievements," said Eisen. "The words "innovation" and "let's try it" are part of our lexicon, and we will continue to do that moving forward."