20th FW begins Airman immersion initiative

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Isaac Nicholson
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Eleven Airmen from across the 20th Fighter Wing took part in a tour of various Air Force careers at Shaw Air Force base on Jan. 28, as a part of an initiative to strengthen pride and ownership in the Weasel mission.

This tour is meant to give Airmen from different units the chance to see multiple sides of the base and aims to give participants a better understanding of its mission.

“We want individuals to have a sense of pride and know that we are one team and that we all contribute to the mission to make sure that we’re successful,” said Master Sgt. Kevin Delong, 20th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment quality assurance. “We put this tour together to give Airmen and younger NCO’s the opportunity to see more of what we do at Shaw.”

The event, currently called the “Weasel Identity Tour,” began at the 77th Fighter Squadron, where the group was shown an F-16 Viper and its associated flight equipment. From there, they were bussed to the 20th Maintenance Group, where they witnessed a weapons loading demonstration. The tour ended at the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron, where the group had the opportunity to interact with firefighting and rescue equipment.

“Seeing these professionals do their work so quickly that it looks easy, it’s really inspiring,” said Airman 1st Class Thomas Blazina, 20th OSS aircrew flight equipment technician. “The tour really opened my eyes to the work that other Airmen on Shaw are doing. It provided a better perspective into the overall mission of the wing.”

After the tour was completed, the Weasel Identity group sought feedback from the participants to better improve the program for future tours.

“If we come to work and we don’t enjoy it, we don’t have pride in our work, then our Airmen will remain unhappy and morale is going to drop,” said Delong. “Weasel Identity is about instilling a sense of pride and making sure that people are happy to be here, they know what the mission is and years down the road they will remember the 20th Fighter Wing.”