SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The 20th Force Support Squadron hosted the “Reboot your Resolution” Airman/Soldier Appreciation Dinner at the Chief Master Sgt. Emerson E. Williams Dining Facility here, March 9.
The dinner presented an opportunity for Team Shaw leadership to mentor and share a meal with junior enlisted members in a relaxed environment.
During the dinner, 20th FSS dining facility employees served a variety of food while attendees from various squadrons conversed. Service members from the same squadron sat together and shared advice and stories, some of them meeting for the first time.
The Airmen and Soldiers were able to use this opportunity to ask questions and receive guidance from their leadership.
“It’s a way for the dorm residents to interact with their chain of command in an informal setting,” said Tech. Sgt. Matthew Franklin, 20th FSS assistant manager for the dining facility. “It shows that they really do care. That they’re not just there for order and discipline, that they’re human beings too. “
Every appreciation dinner is put together by a chosen noncommissioned officer and a junior enlisted member from the dining facility staff, who put together the menu, theme, and decorations.
Airman 1st Class Treasure Jacobs, 20th FSS services apprentice, and Staff Sgt. Regina Rose, 20th FSS noncommissioned officer in charge of the dining facility storeroom, put together the “Reboot your Resolution” dinner.
“I feel like it’s just a way to give appreciation to people,” said Jacobs. “We do a lot of work and we don’t always get recognition for it. It’s a way to be in a comfortable atmosphere with higher leadership and converse outside of work. It really does boost morale.”
Events like appreciation dinners help leadership meet face-to-face with the junior enlisted and provide mentorship opportunities. Mentoring allows Airmen and Soldiers to share ideas, experiences and helps foster a culture of communication. Every quarter the dining facility hosts an appreciation dinner.