Whiting hosts county leadership program

Whiting hosts county leadership program

NAS Whiting Field Public Affairs
Originally published September 28, 2007

Mike Harris, a quality assurance inspector for CNATRA, and Lt. Shawn Bowen from Training Air Wing 5, give an overview of the T-34C aircraft to 20 members of the Santa Rosa County Leadership course. The group was at NAS Whiting Field for an orientation on the base's capabilities. U.S. Navy photo by Jay Cope.

Community, business, and civic members of Santa Rosa County, had an opportunity to get up close and personal with military personnel and equipment during a recent orientation on NAS Whiting Field's mission and capabilities.

The one-day, Sept. 20 brief was part of a year-long effort by the county to expose future county leaders to the problems, issues and opportunities facing the county.

Military leadership at the base embraced the opportunity to meet with the class, called Leadership Santa Rosa, and explain the base's role in preparing the military's future aviators.

The base and its 14 outlying fields provide the infrastructure that enables 60 percent of all aviators to receive their primary flight training. Approximately 16 percent of all Navy flight hours are performed through NAS Whiting Field.

It is a major accomplishment to facilitate so many evolutions safely, and Capt. Rick Sadsad, NAS Whiting Field Commanding Officer, praised his staff to his audience.

"What we do to enable the warfighter to accomplish their mission is very important," he said during the initial brief for the event.

"We have great people who do their jobs very well. They make my job easy."

Following the welcome and opening presentations by the base commanding officer and the Training Wing 5 commodore, the group was treated to orientations on the T-34C training aircraft, the TH-57 "Sea Ranger" helicopter, the night vision laboratory, and the two flight simulators.

All the briefs and demonstrations were designed to give the Leadership Santa Rosa class an understanding of what the base and its tenant commands do as well as their role in the overall military hierarchy.

That coincided nicely with the goal of the program, according to George Rials, an alumni of the class and one of the facilitators for the visit.

"These are future leaders of the county. We are trying to get them familiar with what goes on throughout the county, and the base is a big part of that," he said.

Past visits included topics such as health care, government, tourism, agriculture, and even a trip to the state capital for an understanding of the legislative process.

In the end, though, the best benefit to the base is an increased understanding between the military and the local community.

"We get to see that the leadership has great future plans for the installation, and that there are some potential problems but also a great opportunity for growth if we work together," said Capt. Tony Tindell, Milton Police Department. "We have such a good relationship with Whiting already, but interaction like this makes the tie that much stronger."