On Leadership "On Leadership” is a feature column where Rotary Wing Flag Officers are able to submit articles on leadership topics of their choosing. RDML Alvin “Bull” Holsey proposed the idea and provided the lead article on “Mentoring - What Matters Most?” in the Fall 2019 Issue. The batting line up has included VADM Richard Snyder (Winter 2020), RADM Daniel Fillion (Spring 2020), RDML John Gumbleton (Summer 2020), RADM Jeff Hughes for Fall 2020. 2021 begins with VADM Dean Peters.
An Unexpected Lesson from the Aviation Command Safety Course
By VADM Dean Peters, USN ike most epiphanies, this one was completely unexpected. The year was 2004, the place – Naval Aviation’s School of Aviation Safety at Naval Postgraduate School. Here I was, preparing for squadron command with 40 or so O-5s from across Naval Aviation’s many tribes – all soon to become XOs or COs leading squadrons in the hazardous, unforgiving business of flight operations, ashore and at sea.
L
As a midshipman, I received a steady dose of leadership training, mostly in the form of examples from Navy and Marine Corps heroes of the past. What is leadership? A partial list might include: setting the example; leading from the front; taking care of your people; and From left to right: LT Gerald J. Voorhies, ENS Dean Peters and AW2 Charles R. Priestley. being decisive, a good communicator, Photo courtesy of Approach Magazine. a true professional, and master of your trade. Despite reading like a checklist, you’ll probably agree transparency and briefed by a representative from their group. that all these traits are necessary – but are they sufficient? A common technique was to cover parts of the outline with What’s missing? What makes a leader truly great? a piece of paper as you progressed through the presentation. This format gave the different communities an opportunity to Before I attempt to answer this last question, allow me compare perspectives on the various subjects. The VF view of to confess … I am a work-in-progress and learn (or fail to bird strikes is decidedly different from the VP view. The Helo learn) something new about leadership almost every day. But view of icing is different from the VS view. We were learning thinking back on my career, the 2004 Aviation Command from each other. All good. Safety Course was my seminal learning experience. It made me reflect on previous actions and inactions, and provided Yes, all good until the last briefer on day one removed a compass for future situations that would demand effective the paper from the bottom of the transparency to expose a leadership action and intervention. derogatory sexual comment about one of the officers in the class. It was meant to be funny (I think). An initial awkward The six-day Aviation Command Safety Course was silence was quickly broken by snickers and catcalls. After some straightforward. The class was divided into like-community admin remarks, the O-6 instructor dismissed us and everyone groups: VF, VFA, VS, VAW/VRC, VP, VT, and Helos. For departed amidst a few more laughs. The next day brought the most part, the Helo Group was characteristically low key. new assignments to the groups and new representatives to There were some big personalities in that room, and they were brief the findings. Things were going fine until the third not the “Helo Guys.” briefer removed his paper, revealing yet another derogatory comment about the same officer. This time, there were more As to the class format, all groups were given the same laughs and knee slapping. It was clear these “jokes” were rude daily assignment, and provided an outbrief to the class at and inappropriate; but no one seemed to mind … and they the end of each day. Subjects ranged from Operational Risk were getting laughs. Not surprisingly, a later group ended their Management to Human Factors Boards to mishaps, close briefing with another inappropriate comment. calls, and HAZREPs. Daily briefs were presented using an overhead projector (yes, it wasn’t that long ago that these were common), with each group’s key takeaways handwritten on a Rotor Review #151 Winter '21
18
