Don't self-eliminate

  • Published
  • By Col. Cam J. LeBlanc
  • 934th Maintenance Group commander
MINNEAPOLIS-ST PAUL AIR RESERVE STATION --  
Don't self-eliminate. What does the colonel mean? Well in simple terms, be as prepared as you can be for the next promotion, assignment or course. I hope by now most of you are realizing that promotions, developmental education and some courses or assignments are becoming extremely competitive. I believe this is by design.

I have sat on numerous AFRC promotion boards and 21A & 21R Developmental Team boards and an Active Duty 21A Developmental Team board. The one constant that I have picked up from all these boards is that they are very competitive. Board members want to filter out packages as soon as they can so they can get down to the business of rack and stacking the remaining competitive packages. So to make their job as difficult as possible you need to have all the prerequisite requirements completed to make dig into your package and see what you have done and understand what potential you bring.

The easiest way to self-eliminate whether you're enlisted or an officer is to not complete the required level of Developmental Education or obtain the expected higher education degree. If you're sitting on a board these types of open items become discriminators or in some cases even prevent you from applying for a position. I have always attempted to make a supervisor, commander or board member's job as tough as possible by having my packages complete. It doesn't mean that I'm going to be selected, but at least I'm not going out on the first cut.

I have had some folks say to me why should I go through all that. The answers to me are pretty easy. First, you can't win if you don't play. Second, you never know when an opportunity is going to present itself-you need to be ready. Third, even if you never get selected CCAF degrees and Developmental Education give you the gift that keeps on giving; retirement points. They all add up.

Colonel Young and the group commanders are trying our best to bury the "good ole boy system" for good. Help us help you by being ready and competitive. Make our job and the squadron commander's job as hard as possible.