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CGOC members visit the Capitol

  • Published
  • By Capt. Naomi Weaver
  • 90th Maintenance Operations Squadron
Six officers from Warren joined 190 lieutenants and captains from around the globe in Washington, D.C., for the 2007 Air Force Company Grade Officers Councils' Professional Development Conference. 

Lt. Col. Zannis Pappas, 90th Operations Support Squadron; Capt. Andrew Mercer, 90th OSS; Capt. Andrew Salloum, 319th Missile Squadron; Capt. Naomi Weaver, 90th Maintenance Operations Squadron; Chaplain (1st Lt.) Kraig Smith, 90th Space Wing; and 2nd Lt. Zeph Czelusta, 90th Security Forces Group, traveled to the capital to participate in the conference and represent Warren. 

The annual conference is designed to enhance the officership of company grade officers by emphasizing professional development, community service, base support and esprit de corps. 

From the new one-page officer performance report to the fourth generation warfighter and the new cyberspace command, CGOs had the rare opportunity to discuss current Air Force issues with senior Air Force leaders. 

"I think the most beneficial or important thing I took away from the conference is the presentation of Col. Alan King, United States Army Reserve, who talked about the military and political interaction between the United States and the Middle Eastern culture," said Captain Salloum. "It is an eye-opening experience to learn that the current situation in Iraq could be completely different if we only had people who understood how to better interact with the Iraq culture." 

Most senior leaders focused on priorities of warfighting, developing and caring for Airmen and their families and re-capitalizing and modernizing aging air and space inventories and equipment through the observations of Gen. T. Michael Mosley, Air Force chief of staff . 

"CGOs today must perform at a higher level earlier in their career and develop competency-based skills within their career fields and across broad areas," said Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel. 

"You will never achieve your full potential if you always wait until the next promotion or next job assignment to step it up a couple notches and be a leader," Lieutenant Czelusta said. 

Besides focusing on the career, most of the senior leaders stressed balance in personal life, especially between career and family. 

Maj. Gen. John Maluda, vice commander of Cyberspace Command adds, "If at the end of your career all you have is a closet full of uniforms, is that really success?"
In addition to the briefings, the conference offered tours of the White House, the Pentagon, Air Force Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the Air and Space Museum. 

The 2008 conference will be in San Antonio.