PACE

Col. Joseph Rizzuto presents the Profession of Arms Center of Excellence way-ahead to participants at the PACE Summit, Dec. 7-8. Nearly 60 leaders from across the Air Force participated in the fourth professionalism summit held at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. The summit gave participants an opportunity to collaborate and learn about what the major commands are doing to institutionalize professionalism within the Air Force. (Courtesy photo)

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PACE

Former Cowboy football player and A-10 pilot, Chad Hennings, speaks to nearly 60 leaders from across the Air Force at the Profession of Arms Center of Excellence summit, Dec. 7-8. The Air Force Academy graduate spoke about his perspectives on excellence, character and having a strong identity. The summit gave participants an opportunity to collaborate and learn about what the major commands are doing to institutionalize professionalism within the Air Force. (Courtesy photo)

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Air Force leaders discuss evolution of professional development

Published Dec. 15, 2016
By Christa D’Andrea
Profession of Arms Center of Excellence

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- Total Force leaders gathered here Dec. 7-8, to discuss the future of professionalism in the Air Force.

Nearly 60 Airmen from all the major commands joined stakeholders from Headquarters Air Force, Air University, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Air National Guard and Reserve for two days to pool resources and learn what each MAJCOM has to offer. This is the fourth professionalism summit hosted by the Profession of Arms Center of Excellence since its inception in March 2015.

PACE is the newly minted directorate in Air Education and Training Command dedicated to forging professional Airmen who embody the core values of Integrity, Service and Excellence.

“Foremost, the purpose of PACE's professionalism summit is to ensure all MAJCOMs have a common understanding of what the Air Force is doing to further Airmen’s professional development. We aim to let all stakeholders across the Air Force know it's time for a new day in how we're building our Airmen,” said Col. Joseph Rizzuto, PACE’s director. “Additionally, the summit is a springboard to build a network of professional development partners across the Air Force.”

Participants had the opportunity to listen to guest speakers, receive an update on current PACE initiatives and each MAJCOM shared their own professional development strategies.

Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson, AETC commander, opened the summit with his thoughts about the importance of professional development.

“Success of the Air Force depends on how well we inculcate professionalism into the Air Force – active duty, guard and reserve,” he said. “It impacts the quality of Airmen, retention and their [Airmen] overall happiness. I think all of that is critical.”
Roberson went on to say that PACE is the Air Force’s formal commitment on instituting professionalism. “It’s so important to the success of our Air Force. The best part [of institutionalizing professionalism] is that it makes Airmen better.”

He added that PACE initiatives reach touch points at the appropriate place to reinforce the importance of professionalism in the profession of arms.

“I am 110 percent on board, as all MAJCOM commanders are,” he concluded.

Former Dallas Cowboys player and Air Force A-10 pilot, Chad Hennings, shared his personal journey and perspective on excellence, character and having a strong identity.

“Character is like a muscle – if you don’t use it, you lose it,” said the Air Force Academy graduate and three-time Super Bowl champion. “Excellence is the glue that holds everything together. Living a life of excellence is a journey – you don’t ever get there but you strive for it.”

He summed up his one-hour presentation by sharing his four pillars of life: Physical, mental, family and community. He stated that every Airman should strive to take care of themselves [physical]; leaders are readers [mental]; establish and maintain good relationships [family]; and give back to their community.

Participants were also treated to a condensed training session on the “Speed of Trust” developed by Stephen Covey. The two-hour training helped those in the room develop their language of trust and understand how trust can affect change in an organization.

According to Darren Wyatt, PACE program analyst and the summit coordinator, “Colleagues from across the Air Force collaborated for two days talking about our culture, building a better Airman, and infusing our core values into the profession of arms in new and exciting ways.”

“One aspect of the summit I found extremely refreshing was the significant discussion on enhancing our civilian professional development opportunities,” Wyatt continued. “Our Air Force has a vast population of seasoned civilian professionals who are in essence, Airmen.”

Following the origination of PACE, each MAJCOM developed PACE integration teams who presented updates on their strategic professional development initiatives. Rizzuto also presented the way-ahead for PACE that includes launching the Enhancing Human Capital Course 2.0. EHC is PACE’s core curriculum that supports its mission; it focuses on self-reflection as a means to better understand how Airmen can become better friends, parents, spouses, co-workers and leaders.

“If everyone were aligned with the Core Values there would be major culture change across the Air Force,” Rizzuto stated about the purpose of PACE. “The whole reason for the summit is to learn what each other’s’ intent is to develop professionalism across the Air Force.”

PACE plans to keep hosting the professionalism summit and is already planning an event for 2017. For more information about PACE, its current initiatives and the presentations delivered at the summit, go to www.airman.af.mil.