SALT participants complete intensive leadership development program Published June 11, 2020 By Brian Brackens Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFLCMC) – The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center continues to develop the next generation of leaders ready to lead teams in solving our most complex life cycle programmatic challenges. Recently, the second cohort of the Senior Acquisition Leadership Team or SALT, completed seven months of coursework, workshops, projects, and engagements with senior Air Force leaders, resulting in graduation from the program last month. As one of AFLCMC’s premier leadership development programs, SALT trains and prepares high performing mid-level employees for senior leadership roles. Members came from all AFLCMC functional areas, including engineering, program management, financial management, contracting, logistics, and information protection. The focus of the program is on individual development, and participants began with a 360-degree survey and other personal assessments. These results helped students shape an individualized Learning Development Plan which included shadowing and mentoring, as well as executive leadership, change management and critical thinking courses. Although COVID-19 travel restrictions and social distancing prevented participants from the full SALT curriculum, their resilience helped ensure maximum benefits and growth for all. Last month’s out-brief included their updated leadership development plan to continue their lifetime leadership journeys. Participants were paired with a senior mentor who provided one-on-one guidance, however participants also had the opportunity to shadow and mentor with senior executives from across the Department of Defense to broaden perspectives and enrich the mentoring experience. While a number of planned SALT activities were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, the team was able to make significant progress prior to travel restrictions and later through platforms such as Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Many students will still participate in rescheduled courses such as the Georgetown University Air Force Capitol Hill Workshop, Visual Management for Competitive Advantage, Strategic Planning for Executives, Becoming a Leader, Managing Yourself, and Strategies for Leading. “The success of our Center, Command and Air Force depends in large part on building the next generation of great leaders that can successfully build and lead teams,” said Col. Brady Hauboldt, AFLCMC Vice Commander. “SALT is designed specifically to help emerging mid-level leaders and develop them into AFLCMC’s next leadership team.” The most recent SALT participants are as follows: Lt. Col. Paul Hrad, Program Manager, Digital Joe Lopez, Program Manager, C3I&N Joshua Hartman, Engineer, Propulsion Christopher Seagraves, Cyber Resiliency Support Team Lead, CROWS Evan Ward, Engineer, Engineer, Propulsion Shannon Moore, Senior Ops Research Analyst, FZ Kelly Jordan, T-6 Product Support Manager, Mobility & Training Aircraft Norman Dykes, Logistics Manager, Agile Combat Support Nicholas ShererContracting, Business Enterprise Systems Rimma Shlahtechman, CIP/RIF Chief, SOF/ISR AFLCMC will be announcing the next call for participants in SALT III, running October 2020 to May 2021, in August. Nominees should be at the senior GS-13/Major or NH-IV/Lt Col level.