Wingman University sends Schriever back to school

Military and civilian Airmen got a chance to step away from their offices and workspaces to become students at Wingman University Thursday, May 12, 2016, at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.

To kick-off the day, Col. Anthony Mastalir, 50th Space Wing vice commander, led students in a commander’s all call and pep rally. Mastalir spoke about being a wingman, dealing with challenges and stressors, and the Green Dot program.

Wingman University organizers provided free snacks and drinks to the students during the pep rally to take with them throughout the day. Students also grabbed giveaway bags stuffed with notebooks, pens, stress balls and other items.

After the pep rally, students departed to take classes they registered for at different locations on-base to focus on Airmen resiliency, skill building, peer-to-peer cohesion and unit wellness. Some of the classes included conflict resolution, financial resiliency, social media security, spiritual resiliency, team building and a mystery escape room.

Second Lt. Sarah D'Alessandro, 50th Force Support Squadron sustainment services deputy, was one of the mystery escape room instructors.

“It was really cool seeing every group run through the room differently. Everyone had a different strategy or tactic in approaching the scenario,” said D’Alessandro.

Escape room participants assumed roles and solved puzzles in make-believe scenarios, however the application of their teamwork was very real. 

“It’s definitely a good opportunity for team building and lets teams come together for a common goal, just like in the work place. It applies to any office area,” explained D’Alessandro.

Tech. Sgt. Jacob Lacefield, 50 SW command chief executive assistant, participated in a basic drill and ceremonies class, which covered basic commands, marching in formation and movements during reveille and retreat. 

“It was a great refresher for the skills that we commonly lose or forget as we progress through our Air Force careers. It was a great opportunity to work with individuals from other organizations and prove that we can be a functional team,” said Lacefield.

For Wingman University students who wanted to invest in some financial education, Marco Carlos, 50th Contracting Squadron contracting officer, offered a Financial Resiliency class based on principles of wealth building and debt elimination.

“I’m personally passionate about financial resiliency,” said Carlos. “Financial issues are often a route cause of many problems and concerns in our life and having an understanding of how they impact our life and even perhaps our relationships can help us to become more resilient.”