Graduation day arrives for First Sergeants Academy student

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Michael Diaz
  • Air Force First Sergeants Academy student
Editor's note: The following is the third of a four-part series highlighting the experiences of Master Sgt. Michael Diaz, a now graduate of the Air Force First Sergeants Academy. Sergeant Diaz, who hails from the 147th Mission Support Group located at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas, serves with the Air National Guard and has 18 years combined service with the active duty Air Force, the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard.

"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for takeoff." It's Friday morning and those are the last words I hear as I leave the Montgomery area. When you think about it, it's also quite appropriate for the last three weeks that Class 09F of Gunter's First Sergeant Academy went through. New careers are just beginning. Are we prepared? The answer is yes with new information and the knowledge to know where to go for resources.

This last week was exciting and stressful. The three major hurdles we faced were drill evaluations, impromptu speech and of course the test. 

In between that, decisions had to be made on what to do with our deployment (scenarios) and the problems that lay ahead. Bed down issues, equipment shortage, personnel matters were some of the issues that had to be addressed. All should have worked out since we were not staffing a bare bone base, but it was an exercise to see if we could adjust. 

Wait for it! Living quarters are now uninhabitable, problems with plumbing, violation of general order number one, a multitude of rules for health and morale of personnel, emergency leaves which needed processing and trying to prioritize and delegate were the tasks at hand. 

Thinking you might actually have a handle on it? Wait for it! The lone bus you have for transportation breaks down, field kitchen closes, the base comes under attack. The bottom line is expect the unexpected and be flexible. Know when to seek assistance and remember -- people always.

Now it was time for a breather. One of my favorite areas was drill. Okay, I had a little bit of an advantage. A great thing about drill though, it was conducted outside and not in the "comadome" (the FSA auditorium) which was a very nice break from being inside all day every day.  

"Hey First Sergeant, you got any information on ...?" asks the commander. Usually two to three minutes does not seem like a very long time. But when you are now addressing your fellow classmates who are critiquing you, even the best prepared can feel the heat; a variety of topics, little time to prepare and off you go. Think on your feet, know a little something about everything, and be prepared for anything. 

With all of this happening, there were still more classes and briefings and of course...the test!

Needless to say this would be the culmination of our "data input" marathon that we have been drudging through. There were 45 questions, with 15 from your component flight (Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard) ranging from just sheer knowledge base to deciding on the best procedure to deal with a particular problem. Alas, Class 09F rose victorious. 

With the stress level now declared nonexistent, it was time to let Gunter Annex know that 53 new First Sergeants were about to hit the streets, literally. With pride beaming, new first sergeants and academy staff ran through the streets on the Commandant's graduation Run. Thursday morning was also the first day of "officially" wearing our "diamond." How many times can one hear "good morning first sergeant" in the first hour of class? Who cares!  It sounded great. 

Prime rib, chicken, or veggie lasagna, was next order of business. It was the graduation ceremony.  Smiles and "bling bling" were the dress for the evening. Fifty three individuals from all three components came to FSA and one class of new first sergeants from the Air Force is headed out to take care of our people.