An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.





 

News Search

News

A Chief’s Precious Resource

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ashley L. Gardner
  • 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing
JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Virginia --  Eclipsed in the shadows of the 497th Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, lies an esteemed chief who invests in his most precious resource; PEOPLE, which he considers the most worthwhile investment he will ever make.

Chief Master Sgt. Eric Foreman, 497th ISRG senior enlisted leader, cherishes his time helping and adding value to his Airmen. He promotes classes for his group and has advocated for interpersonal development since he was a young Airman.

“I’ve facilitated classes related to our profession,” said Foreman. “That fueled my passion for facilitating for personal and professional growth and development. These classes ranged from classes related to Law of Armed Conflict, survival, and then into courses in leadership, emotional intelligence, and crucial conversations.”
Foreman expressed that his greatest lesson is that there is a hunger in the Airmen for opportunities for growth.

“The class that I attended taught me how to develop crucial conversation skills,” said Master Sgt. Fallon Houston, 10th Intelligence Squadron plans and programs section chief. ‘When we or our Airmen are in situations where difficult conversations need to be had, we have the skills to know how to navigate that situation. It allows us to have a problem be presented and come to a solution from hearing the facts versus letting our emotions take over.”

Some of the courses that Foreman has recently provided for his Airmen are:  Mastering Emotional Intelligence, Crucial Conversations, and is currently orchestrating a course for new supervisors and managers.

“We’re purposely steering away from traditional models and pivoting to areas of building human skills, introspection, perspective shifting, and awareness building,” said Foreman. “Helping our Airmen connect with their Airmen before they can lead them.”

One of the benefits of the mastering emotional intelligence course is that it can come with a multi-rater assessment. Multi-rater assessments offer the attendees to conduct a virtual self-assessment on their current state of emotional intelligence and also allows those Airmen they work with closely to provide them anonymous feedback.

“The feedback [I have received from the courses] has been extremely positive,” stated Foreman. “More specifically, they love the collaborative environment to discuss difficult topics that stretch their thinking.”

To go along with the events listed, the 497th command chief will also be hosting a ‘Crucial Conversations’ specifically for the Diversity & Inclusion executive council members in the near future.