(1)
FBI Special Agent Arthur Everett, assistant special agent in charge of the bureau’s Chicago field office, speaks to hundreds of National Character and Leadership Symposium participants on the importance of trust and its relationship to his agency’s success.
(2)
Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley speaks to nearly 1,000 U.S. Air Force Academy students and visiting students.
(3)
Jim Tressell, Ohio State football coach, discusses leadership during the symposium.
(4)
The Roberts Ridge Panel members — Air Force Lt. Col. Ian Marr, AC-130H Spectre gunship fire control officer; retired Air Force Lt. Col. Christopher M. Cicere, former AC-130 gunship mission commander; Air Force Master Sgt. Kevin Vance, Tactical Air Control Party member; and former Army Ranger Nate Self, a veteran of Roberts Ridge — discusses their experiences in combat and answers questions from the audience.
(5)
Chief Warrant Officer Lance McElhiney, the Army's most experienced helicopter pilot with 41 years of active duty, and Cadet Col. Kristopher A Poskey of the Colorado Wing’s Colorado Springs Cadet Squadron pose for a photo after McElhiney’s lecture on trust between officers and their subordinates.
Cadet Col. Kristopher A. Poskey
Colorado Springs Cadet Squadron
Colorado Wing
COLORADO — For the first time ever, four of Civil Air Patrol’s top cadets represented CAP at the 17th annual National Character and Leadership Symposium, held Feb. 17 through 19 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and highlighted by feature presentations by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and other keynote and concurrent speakers.
Air Force Academy cadets, faculty, alumni, government employees and other university students attended the symposium, built on the theme "Guardians of Trust: Leaders in the Modern Era."|
The fast-paced event offered knowledge from speakers with a wide variety of areas of expertise. Focusing on the subject of a rapidly changing world with changing leadership, they engaged the audience on a variety of topics but always came back to a common point: trust in the modern era.
The four CAP members in attendance were Cadet Cols. Jeremiah Coogan of the North Carolina Wing’s Raleigh-Wake Composite Squadron and Kristopher Poskey of the Colorado Wing’s Colorado Springs Cadet Squadron and Cadet Lt. Cols. Pamela Blanco of the Puerto Rico Wing’s Muniz Air National Guard Base Cadet Squadron and Emily Greiner of the New Jersey Wing’s Wright-Curtiss Composite Squadron.
The gathering is regarded as one of the premier national symposiums on character development. It is designed to guide cadets and students toward turning ethical reasoning into action, improving knowledge of ethics and foundations of character, and developing a sense of moral courage, said Air Force Maj. Olivia Nelson of the Center for Character Leadership and Development, which sponsors the symposium.
Participants spoke with visiting undergraduate university student leaders from across the country, known as a student consortium, in seminars and discussions to pursue understanding the importance and challenges of sound moral character and leadership.
This three-day event is hosted by the Center for Character and Leadership Development as well as the academy’s Association of Graduates and Class of 1973.
NCLS orients leaders to see themselves and their world differently, to see opportunities for character and leadership development and to emerge into being great leaders whose decisions and actions will shape a better future, according to the NCLS Web site.
The round-up of speakers includes:
Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley
Retired Air Force Gen. Lee Butler, former commander of U.S. Strategic Command
Retired AIR Force Gen. Michael Hayden, former principal deputy director of national intelligence
Retired Air National Guard Maj. Gen. Martha Rainsville, the National Guard's first female adjutant general
Navy Capt. Steve Trainer, chairman of the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
- Retired Army Col. Joe LeBoeuf, professor of the practice of management at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
- Retired Army Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, survivor of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon.
- Air Force Lt. Col. Rod Lewis, commander of the 4th Airlift Squadron at McChord Air Force Base, Wash.
- Air Force Capt. Amy Kauvar, brain cancer survivor.
- Army Chief Warrant Officer Lance McElhiney, helicopter pilot.
- Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico.
- Dr. Marvin Berkowitz, co-director of the Center for Character and Leadership at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
- Dr. David McCone, associate professor of the academy's Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership.
- Dr. Rick Rigsby, author of "Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout."
- Dr. Thomas Zweifel, leadership professor and author.
- FBI Special Agent Arthur Everett, assistant special agent in charge for the Chicago FBI Field Division.
- Brian Billick, former NFL head coach and TV sports analyst.
- Steve Birdine, author and diversity educator.
- Dr. Michele Borba, author of "Building Moral Intelligence."
- Mark Bowden, author of "Black Hawk Down."
- Dr. David Callahan, author of "The Cheating Culture."
- Dr. Annette Clark, interim dean and associate professor of law at the Seattle University School of law.
- Dan Clark, author and motivational speaker.
- Dinesh D'Souza, author of "The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of Techno Influence."
- Derek Foster, former cadet and traumatic injury survivor.
- Eric Greitens, chairman of the Center for Citizen Leadership.
- Frances Hesselbein, chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute's Board of Governors.
- C.L. Lindsay, founder of the Coalition for Student and Academic Rights.
- Mike Melvill, commercial test pilot.
- Judithe Registre, director of policy and outreach for Women for Women International-UK.
- Darrell Scott, father of Columbine High School shooting victim Rachel Scott and founder of the "Rachel's Challenge" Foundation.
- Nate Self, former Army Ranger and veteran of the Battle of Roberts Ridge in Afghanistan.
- Kaylei Deakin and Moranda Hern, co-founders of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs."
- Jordan Thomas, amputee and president of the Jordan Thomas Foundation.
- Jim Tressel, head football coach at Ohio State University.
- Mikey Weinstein, academy Class of 1977 graduate and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
