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Chief Master Sgt. Michael Klausutis, 919th Special Operations WIng Command Chief. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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Commentary: Professional development key to PEP success
Posted 10/10/2011 Updated 10/19/2011
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Commentary by Chief Master Sgt. Michael Klausutis
919th Special Operations Wing Command Chief
10/10/2011 - DUKE FIELD, Fla. -- Recently, I had the pleasure to accompany our wing commander on a trip around the base presenting PEP (Promotion Enhancement Program) promotions to four fellow Citizen Commandos.
Staff Sgt. Berry Drake, 919th Maintenance Squadron, was promoted to technical sergeant. Earning master sergeant stripes were Tech. Sgts. Tiffany Prophet of the 919th SOW, Catherine Evers from the 711th Special Operations Squadron and Narvin Stewart from the 919th Communications Squadron.
Also, we had two PEP promotees who were away on temporary duty assignments. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Tim Weber presented Master Sgt. Bruce Tims of the 919th Operations Support Squadron with his new senior master sergeant stripes in front of his fellow Marine Corps Senior NCO Academy classmates. The command staff of the 551st SOS at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. surprised the 5th SOS's Staff Sgt. Nina Stubbs with technical sergeant chevrons.
This is great news for those promoted and is a reflection of their hard work, dedication and superior performance. It is also an indication of the professional team with which each of them works. The Air Force is a team sport, and success in the PEP program is no exception.
A great deal of hard work by an individual is clearly obvious to most of us. What sometimes goes unnoticed by many are the hours of work by the people behind the scenes mentoring those individuals, assisting them in their successes, and particularly in preparing a competitive award package.
There are some who think PEP is a lot of work, or often does not work, or only goes to select career fields. There are 14 members of the wing from the past two years that would disagree. This year's winners include specialists from personnel, administration, life support, maintenance, aircrew and communications. That is a fair spread of specialties represented, by my reckoning.
What is the key to successfully getting promoted under the program? Professional development is the key. Simply filling the mandatory squares required for promotion and doing a good job in your work center is not enough. Get involved in wing events and the civilian community, earn your Community College of the Air Force degree and complete other civilian higher education.
Staff sergeant and technical sergeant candidates should attend the NCO Leadership Development Course, while master sergeant and senior master sergeant candidates should complete the Senior NCO Leadership Development Course and Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education online course. These courses will make you a better NCO or Senior NCO and increase your competitiveness.
If you are competing against others that have that CCAF degree, and you don't, are you really competitive? The same question applies to the optional PME opportunities that I have mentioned.
If you are a supervisor, identify your 2012 PEP candidates now and assess where they can work to improve themselves over the next seven months. We will be finalizing packages for 2012 in May, but the work starts now. It may mean finishing a CCAF degree or taking one of the leadership classes.
Start working on the 1206 (award nomination) now, and identify areas a candidate can strengthen. If your troop is worthy of a PEP promotion they should be worthy of recognition with other regular awards. If you have not recognized them as your unit's NCO or Senior NCO of the quarter, or presented them with a medal in over four years, I have to question if they are truly the best of the best. I assure you that the 10th Air Force and Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command boards will have that same question in mind when they read the package.
We are blessed with some of the finest professional airmen in AFRC and Air Force Special Operations Command. In recent years we have made great strides in improving their professional development and accurately telling their stories to earn them the recognition they deserve.
Please join me in congratulating this year's deserving winners today. Competition for these stripes is quite fierce, so let's get working on assessing and further developing our candidates today for competition in May 2012.
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