REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- A year filled with team projects, ethics discussions, personality assessments, mentoring meetings, professional challenges and briefings have come to a close for a group of Redstone Arsenal employees who committed themselves to building their leadership skills.
Fifty-nine employees from across Team Redstone graduated Dec. 10 from the Leader Investment for Tomorrow program, coordinated by the Aviation and Missile Command. The graduation, held at the Sparkman Center's Bob Jones Auditorium, was especially significant because of what it represented to both the students and senior leaders in the audience -- a commitment to 10 years of leadership development.
AMCOM leaders began LIFT in 2005, a time when there were very few leadership development programs for the Army's civilian employees. Since then, more than 600 Redstone employees have graduated from its classes: UpLIFT -- Upward Leader Investment for Tomorrow for GS 5-11 employees; iLIFT -- Intermediate Leader Investment for Tomorrow for GS 12-13 employees; and Advanced LIFT -- Advanced Leader Investment for Tomorrow for GS 14-15 employees.
For this special graduation, LIFT facilitators reached back and invited previous AMCOM deputy commanders and commanders to be part of the milestone celebration. Sitting alongside today's AMCOM deputy commander Bill Marriott and Lt. Gen. David Mann, commander of the Space and Missile Defense Command, were retired Lt. Gen. Jim Pillsbury and Dr. Richard Amos, who as AMCOM's commander and deputy commander, respectively, launched the LIFT program; and retired Maj. Gen. Jim Rogers, an AMCOM commander, and retired AMCOM deputy commanders Ronnie Chronister and Cathy Dickens, who were all involved with LIFT.
Referring to the Redstone Arsenal leaders in the audience, Marriott spoke to the group about how LIFT is important to developing a legacy of leadership.
"Without the support of leadership, this program just doesn't succeed," he said. "Your presence today is a clear indication of the importance of this program."
Marriott remarked that several LIFT graduates have gone on to aspire to leadership roles within the federal government and he expects students in the 2015 class to have similar career paths.
"The federal government has always had a need for agile and adaptive leaders with far reaching vision and skills," he said, adding that the broadening experience of LIFT is meant to get students to think about the type of career they want to pursue and how they can be among the federal government's best leaders.
He encouraged the students to embrace other opportunities to develop their leadership skills.
The students were also encouraged by Thomas Olszowy, AMCOM's LIFT program manager and the facilitator for iLIFT.
"Much has been done for you. Now much is expected. The time for you to help develop others will come sooner than you think," he said.
Referring to the retired leaders in the audience who have been involved with LIFT, Olszowy said, "When you talk about legacy and stewardship it's not often that you can see what you mean. But, here you can. This (referring to the students) is your legacy. This is what you've left behind. You led the way. You had a vision."
Each class had a representative who spoke about their leadership experience.
For Advanced LIFT, Patrick Nelson mentioned several lessons that his class learned, including change and leadership change is simply required, leaders can't inspire greatness if they are not focused on something greater than their own self-interest, no one is good at everything, part of being a leader is knowing your weaknesses and strengths, communication is a challenge that requires constant verification, listen intently without assuming full understanding and big problems are solved over time.
Mark Lacy from iLIFT quoted several slogans, applying them to the definition of leadership. He ended his presentation with a poem that said, "If I'm the best I can be and you're the best you can be, then there is no reason for jealousy, just destiny."
Michael "Graham" Nocks of UpLIFT thanked those who developed the LIFT program and the supervisors who allowed their employees to participate in LIFT, saying, "AMCOM committed to building the bench of leadership all over Redstone. We have all benefitted from your generosity in our careers."
The graduates honored at the ceremony were:
Advanced LIFT -- Carvil E.T. Chalk, Corry Cox, David Douglas, Walter Franklin, Timothy Helton, Alvin Kemmet Jr., Dr. Linda Murphy, Patrick G. Nelson, Dr. Nakia E. Redmon, Gregory Warnick and David S. Watson;
iLIFT -- Whitney Alexander, Michael Bateman, Seth Cole, Sharon Corcoran, Davida Crawford, Norman Dean, Stephen D. Elison, Erica Fowler, Cynthia Fugate, Penny Gould, Gary Guerrero, George Heeschen, Danielle Hill, Stephen Howison, Johnnie Irby II, Ashlyn Myer, Casey Jones, Marc Lacy, Gregory Lee, Mattie Kay Martin, Joseph Pangburn, LaToya Sims, Robin Tittle, Angela Turner and Letitia Weaver.
UpLIFT -- Elizabeth Balch, Tameyra Bohannon, Ryan Cousins, Angela Davis-Foster, Debby Forge, Shennitta Graham, Jonathan Guerrero, Evon Hamilton, Kari Hawkins, Gina Koger, Sophia Luster, Lindsy Mims, Justin Nabity, Miesha Nelson, Michael Nocks, Marlayna Counts, Jason Petesch, Jessica Rissler, Ruby Dietz, Bonnie Rushworth, Constance Sales, Marlon Turner and Katrina M. Wynn.
Editor's Note: Applications are now being accepted for 2016 LIFT, which will begin Feb. 17. Those interested in applying for the 2016 series of LIFT classes can find information about the program at https://amcom.aep.army.mil/G3/CMD/suptool/LMS/default.aspx/ . Those interested in applying for LIFT can contact program representatives at 876-5080, 876-6062 or 876-6073 for further information.
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