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Chief Duncan speaks at Medical mentorship session

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. David Dobrydney
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The 319th Medical Group here hosted 319th Air Base Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. David Duncan for a mentorship session Feb. 24.

"I want to thank Chief Duncan for coming to speak with us today," said Maj. Justin Theiss, 319th Medical Operations Squadron Physical Therapy Flight commander. "It's not often we can get a command chief as a speaker, especially for such a small group."

Duncan's talk on leadership was part of a newly revamped professional development program at the clinic.

He began with a recollection of a relative who would always ask him, as a young Airman, "how his sergeant was treating him."

Duncan turned that on his audience, saying, "The question becomes 'how are you treating someone's son, daughter, etcetera?'"

He went on to ask the audience what leadership qualities they thought were important, zeroing in on knowing your people, integrity and honest feedback.

When it comes to how a supervisor sees a subordinate, Duncan said, "you can 'kinda' believe in them, really believe in them or lie to them."

Duncan explained the difference is the ability to not just know a subordinate's shortcomings but to confront them so the subordinate can overcome them. For that to happen, Duncan tied it back to knowing your people.

"If you don't know your people, how can you give honest feedback?" he asked. "Our people need it, now more than ever."

Duncan expanded the need for honest feedback even for people who may be leaving the Air Force.

"We need good civilians," said Duncan as he concluded his talk with questions from the gathered Airmen, speaking candidly about force shaping and what the future holds for the Air Force.

The Airmen left much impressed.

"The principles he went over, a lot of people hear those," said Theiss, "but I think you can't hear them often enough."