New Hampshire Guardsmen participated in the first ever speed mentoring event held here, Feb. 5.
The event mimicked speed dating, in which NCOs rotated from one senior NCO to another with the opportunity to ask various questions in an
attempt to build a professional relationship to aid their military career.
With only three minutes, the Airmen were forced to engage in conversation quickly; the questions ranged from inquires on personal experience,such as “what are you most proud of?” and “what is one thing you wished you had learned earlier?” to questions on the shop environment like,“what qualities do you look for in an Airman?” and “how do you create an environment where motivation can thrive?”
“I think we should do it every drill,” said Senior Master Sgt. Frederick Balas, 157th Communications Flight cyber operations superintendent.
“It’s incredibly rewarding as a senior enlisted person to know you’re helping someone out in their career. I’m very excited about this. It exceeded
my expectations.”
Not only did this event allow senior NCOs the ability to pass on knowledge, it allowed mentees to seek mentors outside of their squadrons.
“A lot of times as cops, we stay in our sections, so it was really nice to see all these different people and get all these different perspectives,” said
Staff Sgt. Kelsey Hannafin, 157th Security Forces Squadron member. “They all have been through different things in their career, and they can
really help us as NCOs to improve ourselves.”
Though each meeting only lasted three minutes, mentees felt it was enough time to build lasting relationships.
“This session was great,” said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Yelle, 157th Air Refueling Wing command post controller. “I have the pleasure of talking to
most of them on the phone, but it was nice to talk to them in person. I found a lot of similarities between what they had to say; they had a similar
vision of where they want the wing to go, and their mentorship in young airmen, that was really rewarding”
Yelle added that he hopes to enjoy more sessions in the future, and mentioned when he becomes a senior NCO, he would like to be a mentor, as
well.
“If someone is considering [participating in a speed mentoring event], or has some concerns, they should do it,” added Balas.
For Command Chief Master Sgt. James Lawrence, 157 ARW, the goal to host a mentoring session like this has been discussed for many years.
“We have been talking about this for 30 years,” said Lawrence. “We have received climate surveys, exit survey feedback, over and over again
people talk about the need to be mentored - within their chain of command and organization, and outside their chain of command. For the first
time in my 30 years, we have pulled this off.”