LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
They are the first line of educational fundamentals for Air Force career fields. Their crisp white pages are filled with guidelines, operating procedures and resources to accomplish the mission.
For most Airmen, Career Development Courses can be intimidating and seemingly incomprehensible at first glance; however, they will soon find with motivation, dedication and application, these books reveal secrets to mastering one's trade.
Leading the way in CDC decoding for the past eight months, 11 of 13 633d Contracting Squadron upgrade trainees scored 95 percent or above on their A set of CDCs and three of those Airmen scored 100 percent. In addition, four of five Airmen scored a 90 percent or above on their B set of CDCs.
Is it something in the 633 CONS water fountains or, better yet, have the Airmen unlocked the first step in the CDC mastery formula: motivation?
"Besides me, there are two other Airmen going up for (Senior Airman Below the Zone) at the same time," said Airman 1st Class Aneury Evangelista, CDC perfect scorer. "We have a friendly rivalry, so of course, CDCs were no different. Once we received them, it was just another challenge to see who would win."
Thinking big picture, the Airmen knew the demands of the contracting career field could not be met by mediocre job performance.
"Not scoring well was not an option," Airman Evangelista emphasized. "Technical competence is a must when dealing with multi million-dollar contracts."
With their motivation within sight, the Airmen set attainable goals to ensure mission completion. Airman Evangelista tackled the beastly volumes daily one section at a time, unlocking the second step in the CDC mastery formula: dedication.
"Once I had gone through all sections, I started over and tried to pick up anything that I might have missed," he explained. "I kept doing this until I felt confident I would be able to score well on my test. Along the way, my trainers answered questions I had, but above all, they motivated me."
With extraordinary scores in the books, it was time to unlock the final step in the CDC mastery formula: application. For the contracting Airmen, the information in the CDCs contributed to a better understanding of on-the-job training and, more importantly, real-world applications.
"Although it is a challenging period, it is refreshing to see the Air Force has exceptional young enlisted members to steer the career field to the next level," said Chief Master Sgt. Bradley Smith, 633 CONS superintendent. "These fine Airmen have shown the mission drive to be the next generation of senior enlisted leaders; it will be exciting to see their careers develop."