Airmen train to become front-line supervisors at JBER’s Airman Leadership School

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - At the Airman Leadership School on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, airmen are training to become supervisors on the front lines.

The goal is to prepare airmen to be “mission ready,” Professional Military Education Instructor Tech. Sgt. Sierra Jones said.

“We take the time to kind of give some soft skills … trust and leadership, motivation and emotional intelligence, things like that,” she explained. “Then we’re gonna shift gears a little bit and get into mission-related skills that are going to better the warfighter that we are trying to instill in our enlisted corps.”

“I think it set me up for success,” Staff Sgt. Kryon Ray said of the program, “especially being a leader and somebody that loves motivating people, going into that aspect.

“It definitely prepared me in a way that sets me apart from my peers before I attended this class.”

Ray said his biggest takeaway from the course was strengthening his emotional intelligence to help him become a stronger leader.

“The Airman Leadership School definitely brings that mentality of serving the people that you’re looking to supervise, rather than just barking orders at them,” he said. “For me, it’s being in tune with your own emotions and making the active effort to apply those emotions in a way that’s going to be successful and beneficial to those around you.”

After completing the program, graduates can take on supervisorial roles within the USAF.

In her role as an instructor, Jones said she hopes to prepare airmen for these roles by encouraging them to be “better humans.”

“I’ve learned that being a leader isn’t being the best in the room and being the person that has the highest rank,” she said. “It’s being the person who’s there for everyone in the room.”

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.