First years as a supervisor

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Stephanie Morris
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  This is the second in a three part series describing the roles and views of different supervisors in each tier of Air Force enlisted leadership. First from the viewpoint of Airmen, then NCOs and finally SNCOs all from separate career fields.

A non-commissioned officer is responsible for ensuring the Airmen he or she supervises are fit to fight not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

Working in a large unit with a very visible mission can compound the difficulties NCOs face.

Staff Sgt. Colin Vessels, 5th Security Forces Squadron primary security manager and alternate personnel reliability program manager, works in one such career field.

Vessels has been a supervisor at Minot Air Force Base for approximately one year. He stated for him, being a good supervisor means allowing yourself to be put in situations that are out of your comfort zone.

"Becoming a well-rounded member of your squadron is going to help you understand what your Airmen might be going through," Vessels said. "You need to talk to your first sergeant and first sergeants from other squadrons to learn the kinds of things they work with."

Vessels feels observing the supervisory styles of leaders, and staying in contact throughout their careers, can help NCOs become better leaders.

"Sometimes there are no checklists to follow, and in those situations you need to rely on your life experiences, job knowledge and other NCOs who have dealt with similar things," Vessels said. "If, for instance, I have an Airman who has a problem that I can't fully grasp, I know that I have other NCOs to turn to who can help me."

Vessels expressed one of the things that has helped him lead is leaning on other NCOs who can help him with a variety of issues.

"It's important to have a strong NCO team," Vessels explained. "Many of the things we work on aren't able to be delegated, because we have to ensure the confidentiality of our Airmen."

He stated the role of a supervisor entails more than just filling out and filing paperwork, and that it takes many years to develop as a leader.

As the alternate PRP manager, Vessels oversees the records for 525 Airmen in the 5th SFS. He explained working with PRP records requires him to put in extra time to learn about his Airmen.

It is important for him to ask questions that go beyond daily pleasantries in order to assist his Airmen with any deeper problems they may be having, Vessels said.

"It's important to have face time with your Airmen and let them know that you are there for them," Vessels said. "You need to keep track of what's going on in their lives and help them in any way you can."

Before becoming the alternate manager for PRP, Vessels supervised nine Airmen working in his flight. He stated it is not uncommon for NCOs in his career field to supervise up to a dozen Airmen at a time.

In the security forces career field an Airman can be the supervisor for an area or a particular mission as early as the rank of Airman 1st Class or Senior Airman, Vessels said. He also explained that as soon as individuals have sufficient knowledge in a particular task or area, they can be put into a supervisory role.

Vessels got his first taste of supervising when he responded to a suicide attempt at a previous base.

"We had responded to the scene and were assessing the situation," Vessels said. "A voice came over our radio and began asking questions regarding what actions we were taking. Everyone in the room turned to me and that's when it really set in. I couldn't turn to my supervisor for answers anymore; I was the supervisor now."

Vessels said that he feels everyone wants to lead at first. He stated that though he wanted the chance to be a supervisor he wasn't fully aware of what he would be getting himself into.

"I think many other career fields might not have the experience with the kinds of things we do," Vessels said. "I never really had to think about gaining life experience, it just came with the job, and I don't regret becoming an NCO one bit."

Before joining the Air Force, Vessels graduated from a police academy in Florida and attempted to work for a variety of police stations.

"Many of the places I applied to said I needed more life experience," Vessels said. "At the time it made me really mad, but now that I have been security forces for a few years I understand exactly what they meant."