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SLS Charlotte

SLS Class - Charlotte 1
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Top photo, SLS class. Bottom left, Maj. Matthew Phillips. Bottom right, Maj. Carl Rongo. Photo credit: Capt. Terence Gordon, PAO, MER-NC-137 (click image to view full size)
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9/13/2015–– On Sept 11-12th, NC-137 successfully hosted a Leadership School in Charlotte, NC.  Maj. Jeff Focke was the course director and was able to gather an excellent array of talented instructors.  The course started off Friday evening with a moment of silence to commemorate 9/11 and then Maj. Brett Benson led off with the first lecture.  As the course was starting, Maj. Benson received an actual mission alert for an over due (missing) aircraft. Just another reminder of the real responsibilities and the important functions of what CAP members (Airmen) are tasked to do.  Maj. Brett Benson quickly handled his responsibilities and resumed his class on Officership & The Public Trust, followed by Lt Col Paul Steele (NC-111 and retired U.S. Army Lt Col) who was able to bring years worth of experience to his lecture on Leadership.   

 
Saturday’s classes started promptly at 0800 with the Pledge of Allegiance and Safety Pledge followed by Maj. Michael Michel ( NC-004) on The Heart of CAP, Lt Col. Tom Schick (NC-137) on Staff Officers, and Capt. Gene Merlin (NC-137) on the Introduction to Professional Development. All the students were engaged and actively participating and sharing ideas during all the sessions.
 
A working lunch allowed the flow of  the course to continue into the afternoon. Maj. Matthew Phillips (NC Wing Chief of Staff) gave an engaginglecture on Creative Thinking and Problem Solving followed by Capt. Art Coburn (NC-050) on Staff officer as Communicator, and finally Maj. Carl Rongo (NC-111) on Individualized Training and stuff Specialties. 
 
Probably the best value of this course was in the quality and engagement of the students who interacted, shared ideas, and discussed a wide array of topics at length.  This course fulfills a necessary milestone in their professional development careers in CAP.  This hopefully will be the start of even more PD courses in this part of the state hosted by NC-137 and other squadrons in this area!  Many of these students have already registered for the upcoming CLC course on 2-3 October in Charlotte, NC for the next milestone in their professional development in CAP.  For other memberswho are also interested in attending for the upcoming CLC course, please do so by registering online or by submitting a CAPF17 to Maj. Focke at jfocke@shealyelectrical.com.