MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Technical sergeants recently selected for promotion to master sergeant and new master sergeants attended a professional development course called Operation Rooftop at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, Aug. 12-15, 2025.
The immersive course serves as a fundamental step in enhancing force development, deliberately shaping new senior noncommissioned officers into agile leaders prepared to solve complex problems in a rapidly evolving battlespace.
"What we want to do here is to show them the skills and the information that they are going to need as they move up into the Senior NCO ranks," said Master Sgt. Kate Hytinen, Operation Rooftop instructor.
The new curriculum blended classroom learning with hands-on application, bridging together their soft skills, along with some tactical and operational skills that they will need to be successful. The training included a variety of demanding scenarios. During one afternoon, the students engaged in combatives training to learn how to think quick on their feet and be able to make quick decisions.
On the second day, the participants were flown by helicopter to the Vigilant Warrior training site for an obstacle course and scenario-based exercises. This portion of the course allowed the students to demonstrate the skills from their respective career fields as well as what they had already learned during the course.
Tech. Sgt. Tasha Johnson, a course participant, found the training to not only be exceptionally valuable for the critical insights it provided, but also a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging experience.
"I did not know what to expect, but it's been a lot of fun team building," she said. "It's interesting to work with so many different people in different career fields and getting their different ideas on how we needed to accomplish the mission"