Keesler member to attend Naval SNCO school

Published Nov. 14, 2012
By Steve Hoffmann
81st Training Wing Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Senior Master Sgt. Donald Crawford, 81st Contracting Squadron superintendent, has been selected to attend the Naval Senior NCO School in Rhode Island. The program is six weeks and begins in June 2013. There, Crawford hopes to hone his leadership skills within a joint service environment.

"It's the same strategic leadership skills that you would learn with any professional military education," said Crawford. "The difference here is that I get to see how other services do things and compare that to how the Air Force operates."

Crawford is one of only three in the Air Force selected to attend this program. There was a rigorous selection process that included a cost benefit return analysis. Crawford's application was then vetted through all the major commands and finally signed off on by Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy.

Crawford is looking forward to learning more about the Navy and how they operate.

"The Navy has a great camaraderie," said Crawford. "How did they get that? How did they get that tradition? I'm hoping to learn a skill set that gets me out of my comfort zone and bring a story back to the troops that we can survive with any service."

Crawford's last three deployments have been joint environments and he is hoping this experience will help him lead more effectively not only on his next deployment but here at Keesler.
"Being a strong leader is all about how you take care of your people," Crawford noted. "It's about being able to do the right thing at all times no matter the pressure. It's about being able to look outside of yourself and realizing that it's never about you but about adding value to others. If you're not adding value to others, you're taking away value."

Naval Senior NCO School selectee