JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Every year, the 373rd TRS, Detachment 5, graduates approximately 700 students. Roughly half of those graduates are brand new to the Air Force and completing their initial training. Upon graduation, they are awarded their AFSC and officially enter into what the Air Force calls an apprenticeship.

In our fast paced world I think we sometimes forget the concept of being an apprentice. Well, what is an apprentice, or better yet an apprenticeship? An apprenticeship can be defined as, "a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a structured competency or a basic set of skills. To be successful, the individual must have perseverance, ambition, and initiativeThe successful completion of an apprenticeship term does not come easily, but is the result of hard work on the part of the apprentice."

As students attend training, we reinforce the idea of being a good apprentice. We encourage our students to listen, learn and most importantly, ask questions: Do I give 100 percent of my attention to the mission? Do I go the extra mile to be the best I can be for the Air Force, for the unit and for myself? Do I take the time to learn the small things now, so I can do big things in the future?

For supervisors, do we reinforce the idea of being a good apprentice? Do we take the time to establish that critical foundation for our Airmen? I ask you, do we hold high standards and demand excellence? Do we inspire? Do we lead? Do we motivate? Are we molding our apprentices for success?

I encourage Airmen at all levels to reflect upon those questions and decide for themselves if we are preparing our future leaders.