MTI team recruits leaders for next AF generation

  • Published
  • By Chrissy Cuttita
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Eglin Airmen looking for a special duty assignment may find interest in what the Military Training Instructor recruiting team has to say during their visit March 25.

"I have always made it a priority to seek out and recommend Airmen to apply for special duty as an MTI," said Senior Master Sgt. Darren Dunham, 96th Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle fleet manager who served as an MTI 2000-2004. "It will enhance their leadership ability and make them a stronger leader."

According to the recruitment team that is visiting Eglin, an MTI's effectiveness as leaders, teachers and mentors has changed lives and inspired Airmen for more than 60 years. Those attributes and mission objectives beyond just marching flights and teaching drill prompted the Air Force to quickly change from the original term in 1947 of "flight marchers" to "military training instructors.

"I clearly remember the day when I came to basic training with no discipline and didn't know where I wanted to go in life," Master Sgt. Eric Gaona, MTI recruiting team flight chief. "That man (now Chief Master Sgt. William Dambacher, his current supervisor) made a difference. He inspired me greatly."

Sergeant Gaona, an instructor from 1993-1997, returned to the MTI Corps in a supervisory role last April.

Also, there's a commonality that unites the men and women who serve as the 737th Training Group's Military Training Instructors - service above self in transitioning the more than 35,000 civilians a year who enter Air Force Basic Military Training into Airmen.

"Each time I graduated a flight of Airmen and the positive comments I received from parents on the significant changes I made in their children's lives to make them better people," said Sergeant Dunham about his memorable experiences as an MTI. "It has always motivated me to continue training and putting the best Airmen into our USAF!"

It's an MTI's professionalism and commitment to Air Force core values in basic military training that molds civilians into successful Airmen; role models to be followed and at the end of 8.5 weeks, often imitated.

Sergeant Gaona said not only did his MTI change him, but his time as an instructor also served as a career springboard.

"The (MTI) experience is invaluable," the recruiting team chief said. "Supervisors single you out because you're more professional. Your career just takes off."

Abilities in upholding standards, correcting others who fail, giving direct and constructive feedback plus possessing and upholding the Air Force Core Values are all things Sergeant Dunham said Airmen wanting to become MTIs need to be prepared to do.

"My days as an MTI were very structured and I had to follow a very strict schedule," said the senior NCO who leads 135 Airmen and civilians who maintain 1,923 vehicles for Eglin. "The job was strictly focused on compliance and adherence to standards."

Time management was a skill he learned as an MTI that he still relies on leading Airmen today.

"Being an effective time manager allows me the opportunity to make time to get to know and take care of my Airmen while simultaneously fulfilling my managerial obligations," he said.

These skills and many more are said to be part of the lasting lessons for a military career according to the recruiting team.

"There is no measure of how much you get from being an MTI," Sergeant Gaona said. "I came in 1993 as a senior airman. When I left and compared myself to other senior airmen, the difference was amazing.

For more information on the MTI Corps, contact the MTI recruiting office at DSN 473-1018.

(Editor's note: 502nd Air Base Wing OL-A Public Affairs contributed to this article.)