OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Choosing an Organization Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Identify an organization and situation you want to study over the remainder of the course.
2. Describe the organization and the situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Name and describe your organization.

My organization is the 355th Force Support Squadron. There are around 600 hundred
military and civilian members that are a part of this organization. It employs at least four
generations of people and boasts the most diverse portfolio of 46 organizations that make
up the Wing, with the most real property on the Air Force Base. The Force Support
Squadron supports roughly 40,000 people, and eleven flights are part of the organization
offering combat and community support. This organization provides services within
several industries: Education, Human Resources, Hospitality, Fitness, Childcare,
Marketing, and Postal Services are just a few examples.

2) Describe your role in the organization (it can be an internal or external role).

My official duty title is Flight Chief; however, I have been interim Senior Enlisted
Leader (SEL) for the past nine months. This commander-appointed position belongs to
what's called a "triad." The Commander, First Sergeant, and the SEL are the triad. The
SEL acts in a direct advisory capacity to the Commander. The SEL is directly responsible
for the readiness, quality of life, training, health, morale, and welfare of the people
belonging to the unit (Bass, 2022). Leading people through resource and program
management, such as awards and recognition, are also additional responsibilities. SELs
also manage people through standards enforcement.

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 Describe the situation, including information you think will help the reader
understand the most important elements of the situation. (This will require
selectivity: part of the art of case writing is separating the essential facts from the
mass of information that might be included).

The Commander assigned a strategic capital improvement project. It was a hybrid of a

revenue-generation food operation managed by airmen to facilitate readiness and Job-
qualification training. This type of project would require collaboration between three
flights within the organization. The Resource Flight, Community Flight, and Sustainment
Flight were the three flights. The Resource Flight provides financial management and
direction for our organization. The community flight houses solely money-generating
activities and does not receive additional support from congress. The Sustainment Flight
has Airmen assigned to manage food operations that can be solely congressionally funded
or revenue-generating and subsidized by congress. Each of these flights has different
frameworks that they operate within. This causes each to pursue a concept design and
task completion differently. There have been several interpersonal conflicts that have
resulted in missed deadlines and delayed project execution. The disputes created barriers
to collaboration. The team members were in a place where they preferred to communicate
through leadership or over email versus in person. This exacerbated existing challenges
associated with the supply chain, hiring, and contract solicitation.

The following are examples of conflicts that arose during task completion. The team had
to develop a menu. Sustainment Flight and Resource Management Flight cater to two
different target markets. Sustainment Flight developed their menu based on surveys of its
normal customer base, which are active-duty airmen. They also based it on the practical
skill sets that airmen who will make up the labor force already have. Resource
Management Flight caters to the retiree population. The two could not agree on menu
makeup or price point and began questioning each other's dedication to a common goal.
They also couldn't agree on the support equipment. One felt as if the other was
questioning the expertise of the other. Information withholding began further
complicating task completion. Budgetary requirements were being withheld. Perceived
discrepancies in performance were being vocalized to senior leadership without
discussion with each other. This caused resentment and mistrust among the collaborating
parties. It has spilled over into other shared assigned projects and tasks.

To ensure project execution, I am more involved in project management. A Master Task

List was developed, and weekly meetings were established with all stakeholders until
project completion. There are still lingering negative feelings following project
mobilization.

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 References

About DM. Public Affairs, May 2022. https://www.dm.af.mil/About-DM/Units/355th-Mission-

Support-Group/

Bass, Joanne. (May 2022) The Enlisted Force Structure. Pg 11

https://www.doctrine.af.mil/Portals/61/documents/Airman_Development/BrownBook.pdf