Hunters, Diamondbacks use CAMP to deliberately develop Airmen

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Shad Eidson
  • 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada --  Airmen at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, can now seek out mentors online using the Creech Airman Mentorship Program website, which launched Oct. 1, 2014.

The program was initiated by Creech leadership to promote mentorship. It initially kicked off nearly six weeks ago with a brochure that helps Airmen have their personalized mentorship goals and information readily available in an easy-to-access format.

"The website is the latest tool to push CAMP to the next level," said Chief Master Sgt. Francis "Butch" Brien, command chief, 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing. "It was created based on feedback from Airmen.

"We were excited about the first phase, the pamphlet, and two weeks later Airmen were asking for more," said Brien. "The CAMP site now has all the extra fields we were looking for that our Airmen are definitely going to benefit from. We call it version 2.0, and I am super excited about it."

CAMP embodies the concept of continuously developing Airmen, which is one of the priorities for both the 432nd Wing and the 799th Air Base Group at Creech AFB. The focus is to develop future Air Force leaders and to promote resources available to Airmen so they can reach their full potential.

"The boss and I both reflected on our careers and the pivotal points in our careers where we said, 'where did we really take off?' [For both of us, we reached that point] because of the mentoring that we had received," said Brien. "Some of us [received that] a little later in [our career,] and we said 'why can't we start from the beginning and give it to our Airmen as soon as they walk in that front door?'"

While several senior leaders have contributed to the CAMP program, one Airman in particular stepped in with his technical computer programming skills to bring it to fruition.

"The way I developed it I think people are going to want to use it," said Airman Brandon Stone, a communication maintenance apprentice assigned to the 432nd Aircraft Communications Maintenance Squadron. "I expect it to be a very thriving community. I want it to be a place where people can connect, communicate, and share information."

The first step to accessing the full potential of the new mentorship option is for mentees and mentors to create a profile, said Stone, who built the CAMP program over a four week period. A solid profile helps connect mentees, who want help with a specific topic, with mentors who show they have that expertise.

The website is designed to allow mentees to look up mentors by rank or topic. Mentors can sign up in topics where they feel they can provide advice to Airmen. Also, anyone can add a topic to create a mentorship area not already supported. Stone has already added requested updates to the website.

"I have already gotten tons of great ideas," said Stone. "I am currently working a comment forum capability and a user notification system. The website will continue to evolve. I want CAMP to be useful. I want it to evolve based of what the users need."

Supervisors, first sergeants, chiefs, commanders, and fellow Airmen can be mentors and sign up on CAMP today. However, CAMP is just one of many sources for mentorship. Airmen are encouraged to still seek mentorship from any source such as their family members, coaches, spiritual leaders, and friends.

"Having a mentor will propel an Airman's career to the next level," said Brien. "A mentor is going to see that untapped potential. They are going to continue to help them in their strengths, but more importantly, they are going to concentrate on weaknesses and turn them into strengths."

Mentorship is and has been a major focus of Air Force top leadership who frequently talk about its importance.

"Mentorship plays an important role in shaping leaders of character, discipline and vision. It represents an investment - one where we may not know the impact until many years later," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James in a speech at the College of William & Mary in 2009.

A link to the CAMP website is located on the Creech intranet home page.