DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — The 317th Airlift Wing introduced their Joint Leadership Development Program over a year ago to ensure all Hazard Airmen are ready to rapidly deploy and integrate with the Joint Force.
Col Justin Diehl, 317 AW Commander, identified a need for a dedicated program to ensure their Airmen can immediately plug into a Joint crisis, contingency, or conflict, in the most complex operating environments.
“Hazard Hour is utilized as part of the 317th’s Joint Leadership Development initiative,” said Capt Allyson Swift, 317 AW Chief of Tactics. “It’s aimed at creating an environment where every Airman understands their role in the mission and the importance of working as one team.”
The primary method of providing this professional development is through Hazard Hour. The sessions are led by wing tactics, intel, and maintenance tactics personnel. Topics include current intel, geopolitical conditions to understand why they may respond to a certain region, operating environment presentations, Joint Force capabilities, and how their newly created C-130J capabilities can provide solutions to these problem sets, whether it is through defueling operations, max endurance operations, maintenance deployable kits, or rapid Tactical Operation Center employment.
“The number one priority of our wing is ‘Mission Execution Upon Notification’,” said Diehl. “In order for our Airmen to understand how they will immediately integrate with our Joint partners, we expose every Airman in the 317th Airlift Wing to Joint Leadership Development.”
The 317 AW then puts these concepts into practice by continuing to seek opportunities to exercise with Joint Force partners such as Marine Littoral Regiments, Multi-Domain Task Forces, and Brigade Combat Teams in austere Indo-Pacific island locations. They are also in discussion with the 21st Air Task Force to begin integrating during daily training flight and have also led a joint 7 BW session with B-1B mission briefs.
“We are very proud of this program, and I believe it’s what our youngest Airmen through our Commanders and Chiefs need to understand to be properly prepared ‘Joint Warfighters’,” said Diehl.