Learning to lead abroad
For the first time, a United States Air Force (USAF) member has stepped inside RAAF’s Professional Military Education (PME) system – not as an instructor or observer, but as a student.
The two allies have spent decades learning how to fight alongside each other. Now they are learning how to lead alongside each another.
On July 23, Master Sergeant Scott Holmes became the first USAF airman to complete PME Level 4 Leadership Course at RAAF Base Wagga.
For Master Sergeant Holmes, the course was more than professional development. It offered an insight into how RAAF approaches leadership, decision-making and the challenges in operating as a smaller force.
“What makes the RAAF’s approach to PME so unique is that throughout each stage of their careers, the leadership course actively combines enlisted member and officers in the same courses,” he said.
“Having senior enlisted and field grade officers working through complex problems side-by-side shifts the training straight into practical, operational leadership.
“It gave me a very realistic, hands-on look at how our allies lead and execute on a day-to-day basis.”
'What makes the RAAF’s approach to PME so unique is that throughout each stage of their careers, the leadership course actively combines enlisted member and officers in the same courses.'
For FLTLT Scott Knight, the OIC of Leadership Teams at the School of Post-graduate Studies, Master Sergeant Holmes’ presence in the classroom equally added value to the RAAF cohort.
“Bringing an alternative non-ADF perspective added a huge amount to the whole course,” FLTLT Knight said.
“Having Master Sergeant Holmes be involved in conversations with members about the limitations facing the RAAF, including budget, workforce, platforms and appetite for risk, created a deeper understanding.
“It’ll help the USAF learn why the RAAF does things differently.”
That exchange of perspective reinforces another layer of interoperability between the two air forces: helping each understand not only how the other operates, but why.
Master Sergeant Holmes will return to his unit, 337th Air Support Flight, where he will implement what he has learned.
“It’s all part of advancing the alliance and making sure our forces are ready to integrate and operate as one team,” Master Sergeant Holmes said.
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